1 



NEWFOUNDLAND to MANITOBA 



THROUGH 



CANADA'S MARITIME, MINING, AND PRAIRIE PROVINCES 



BY 

/ 

W: FRASER RAE 



WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



NEW YORK 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

27 AND 2Q WEST 23 D STREET 
1881 



40403 



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PEEFACB, 



I VISITED and described tlie Province of Manitoba and a 
part of the New West in the United States, as a Corre- 
spondent of The Times, during the summer and autumn 
of 1878. Last autumn and winter I visited Newfound- 
land, landed on the North American continent, journeyed 
across it from Halifax on the Atlantic Ocean to Rapid 
City on the Little Saskatchewan River, and athwart it 
from the Red River of. the North in Manitoba to the Rio 
Grande in New Mexico. Letters contributed to Tlie 
Times, during both visits, are reprinted in the following 
pages. All of these letters ha^ve been carefully revised; 
some have been recast, while the contents of many pages 
now appear for the first time. The Province of British 
Columbia is the only important section of the Dominion 
which is not treated in this work. 

I purpose reproducing in another volume my experiences 
and observations in those States and Territories of the 
Union which constitute the remarkable New West, 
extending from the Territory of Dakota to the Territory of 
New Mexico, and from the State of Kansas to the Territory 
of Wyoming. 

Whilst gratefully acknowledging my indebtedness to 
many Canadians for great courtesy and attention, I must 
return special thanks for the information and aid which I 
received from Mr. John Lowe, Secretary to the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture at Ottawa, and Mr. William Hespeler, 
Dominion Immigration Agent at Winnipeg. Mr. Hespeler 
is one of the many cultured Germans who have made 
Canada thoir home, who do credit to the country of their 
birth, and who render genuine and patriotic service to 
the land of their adoption. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 
England's oldest colony. 

PARE 

Earliest !N'otices of ^Newfoundland 3 

Products of the Island 5 

Rich in Minerals • • 7 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Mission 9 

Daniel discovers Silver • 11 

Result of Mineral Discoveries 13 

"Whitbourne's Account , , 15 

First Colonists 17 

Laws of Charles I. ,19 

Settlement Impeded 21 

Condition of the Fishermen 23 

Increase of Pauperism 25 

Responsible Government granted . . . . . • 27 

Yiews of the Islanders 29 

The Capital of Newfoundland 31 

Public Buildings 33 

Legislative Assembly 35 

The Soil and Climate . 37 

Newfoundland Railway .,,....• 39 

Agricultural Prospects 41 

Opposition to a Railway . 43 

Newspaper Press ......... 45 

Notes on Newspapers 47 

Compulsory Education ........ 49 

Principal Imports ......... 51 

Mines and Mining . . , . . . ' . . . 53 

French Claims 55 

Fish, Game, and Dogs 57 

CHAPTER IL 

THE LAND OP THE " BLUE NOSES." 

The Founder of Nova Scotia • • • • • • 61 

The *' National Pohcy " 63 

"Old Fossils" 65 

Gold-Mines 67 



Vlll 



Contents 



PAGE 

ISTova Scotian Collieries • i , 69 

Scenery and Climate ........ 71 

The Capital of Nova Scotia . . , ... • . 73 

Halifax Hospitality . . , . " , , , . 75 

Governor Archibald • • 77 



^ CHAPTER IIT. 

THE PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK 

The Puritans and New Brunswick 
Foundation of St. John . , , 
New Denmark . • • • 

The St. John River^ 
Churches in Fredericton 
Headquarters of the Intercolonial 
A Forest on Fire .... 
New Brunswick Land Laws . • 
Cattle-Eearinor • . . • 



CHAPTER TV. 

PEINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 

Oysters, Mackerel, and Lobsters . 

Yield and price of Potatoes .... 

Highland Settlers ..... 

Subdivision of the Land .... 

Landlords and Tenants .... 

Settlement of the Land Question . . . 
Summerside . . . . . . . 

Charlottetown and its Suburbs . . . 
Governor John Ready's Administration . 



81 
83 
85 
87 
89 
91 
93 
95 
97 



101 
103 
105 
107 
109 
111 
118 
115 
117 



CHAPTER Y. 

INTEKCOLONIAL, GEAND TRUNK, AND NOETHEHN RAILWAYS. 

Intercolonial : Origin and Character ..... 

Workshops at Moucton 

Scenery along thesLine ........ 

Newcastle 

Mr. Justice Henry 

Mr. Hickson's Management of Grand Trunk . . . , 

Glut of TraflBc 

Murkoka Lakes 

Future Prospects of Northern Railway ..... 

CHAPTER YL 

ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR. 

The North Shore Route . 

A Landlord's Career , , 



121 
123 
125 
127 

129 
131 
133 
135 
137 



139 
141 



Contents. 



IX 



PAGE 

Tempestuous Weather , • . • * • • .143 

The Bruce Mines 145 

Homes for Indian Children » 147 

Fishing in the Eapids 149 

A Historic Ceremony ,161 

Panegyric on Louis XIV. ....••; 163 

Micliipicoten Island ,165 

Discoveries of Copper 167 

Value of Native Copper . . . . , . • 169 

Copper Mining Companies 161 

Mineral Eiches . . . 163 

Silver, Copper, and Iron Deposits 165 

CHAPTEH VII. 

DULUTH TO WINNIPEG. 

Mr. Proctor Knott's Speech 169 

Delights of Dulnth 171 

Geographical Ignorance 173 

Manufactures and Trade 175 

Land SiDccnlators . 177 

A Hint to Emigrants 179 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ON THE RED KIVER OE THE NORTH. 

Course of the Red River 181 

Mammoth Farms 183 

By Water to Winnipeg . • ,186 

Lake Minnetonka .....•••• 187 

Stern Wheel Steamers 189 

Onslaughts of Insects 191 

Scenery on the Banks #193 

First View of Winnipeg 195 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CITY OE WINNIPEG, 

University of Manitoba . 

Historical and Scientific Society 

Public Markets 

Fruit and Flowers . 

A Journalistic Experiment 

The Hudson Bay Company 

Mr. Brydges . 

St. Boniface . . • 

Archbishop Tache . • 

Advice to Electors . • 

A French Newspaper 



199 
201 
203 
205 
207 
209 
211 
213 
216 
217 
219 



X Contents, 

CHAPTER X. 

THE PROVINCE OP MANITOBA. PAGE 

Opinions about the Eegion • • 221 

Extent of the Province 223 

Farming in Manitoba ....'..•• 225 

Red River Farmers 227 

Prairie Grasses • 229 

GrasshopjDers . . , , . . , . • 231 

Manitoba Homesteads • . • 233 

CHAPTER XL 

MENNONITES AND ICELANDEES IN MANITOBA. 

Mennonite Homes 237 

Mennonite Doctrines and Habits •••••• 239 

Failings of the Mennonites .•••••• 241 

Mennonite Exclusiveness • • ^43 

ISTew Iceland . . . ■ 1^45 

Discord among the Icelanders •...•• 247 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE NOETH-WEST TEEEITOEIES. 

Western Roads 249 

Mudholes 251 

Prairie Hotels 253 

Royal Commissioners in Manitoba • . • • • 255" 

Journalism at Rapid City •••..•• 257 

Successful Farmers . • . • « • . • 259 

Home of the Buffalo 261 

Sale of Intoxicants Prohibited , 263 

CHAPTER XIIL 

THE CANADIAN TAE WEST. 

Western Winters 267 

Chmate, Soil, and Minerals .,.,.,, 269 
Sir George Simpson's Prophecy . • • , • ,271 

Canadian Pacific Railway . • • • • • • 273 

Hudson Bay Route . . 275 

Rival Regions 277 

Perfect Wheat Plants . . . ... . . .279 

The "Land of Misery'* 281 

A Terrestrial Paradise , , 283 

Canada's Future , 285 

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

WEEDS IN NOETH AMEEICA. 

Weeds in North America ....... 287 



MAPS AND II.LUSTRATIONS, 



TAGB 



1. Map of Newfoundland. • • • . Fruntispiece 

2. Do. Manitoba 233 '^ 

3. Do. Dominion of Canada 295 

4. Winnipeg as it was in 1870 ..,,•. 19j/<? ^ 

5. Do. as it 13 . , , . , , , , 212 '^ 



NEWFOUNDLAND TO MANITOBA. 



CHAPTER I. 



England's oldest colony. 



Newfo[JNDland was discovered in the reign of 
Henry the Seventh and incorporated with the 
English realm in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
It is an Island presenting many and marked con- 
trasts to the Fiji Islands which have been added 
to the British Empire in the reign of Queen 
Victoria. In Fiji every prospect pleases and 
man does the reverse, owing to a taste for eating 
his fellows. Nature often wears a rude and for- 
bidding aspect in Newfoundland ; the aborigines, 
on the other hand, were too mild and inoffensive 
to survive the invasion of savage Mic-Mac Indians 
and the effects of civihzed vices imported by 
white men from Europe. 

B 



2 England'' s Oldest Colony. 

Money is made in Fiji by growing and crushing 
sugar-cane ; in Newfoundland fortunes have been 
accumulated by catching and curing fish. The 
colonists of Fiji are envied for basking in 
summer weather all the year round, while the 
Newfoundlanders are pitied for having to sustain 
a struggle for existence amid the icy gales and 
fogs of the Northern Atlantic. If the lot of the 
latter were as sad as is commonly supposed, they 
would be pardoned for repining and complaining 
that it was intolerable. Though not more con- 
tented than other mortals or reluctant to exercise 
the truly British prerogative of grumbling, yet 
their grievances are not those for which Nature 
can fairly be held responsible. They are proud 
of their Island despite its fancied drawbacks, 
loving it with a devotion which nothing can 
impair. The intensity of a Newfoundlander's 
patriotism is a striking and admirable trait in his 
character. His patriotism is evidently as genuine 
as it is profound. Even new comers soon learn 
to vie with the native-born inhabitants in ex- 
tolling the Island's charms. Life in Newfound- 
land has many compensations and enjoyments 
which are unsuspected by a stranger. 

. For many years after the month of June, 
1497, when John Cabot discovered this Island, 
nothing was done by Englishmen to profit by its 



Earliest Notices of Newfoundland. 3 

natural advantages. The earliest notices of it 
are to be found in tlie records of Henrj the 
Seventh's privy purse expenses ; the first of these 
references is dated the 10th of August, 1497, and 
is to the effect that lOL were given '' to hym that 
found the new Isle ; " the last is dated 25th 
August 1505, and is a reward of 13.9. 4(i. to Clays 
for going to Eichmond " with wilde catts and 
popingays of the Newfound Island." Entries 
between these dates relate to two payments of 
20Z. and one of 30Z. made to merchants that had 
voyaged to Newfoundland, and to a reward of 
IZ. "to one that brought hawkes from the New- 
founded Island." It was not till 1540 that 
Englishmen sailing from the ports of Biddeford, 
Barnstable and Bristol systematically engaged in 
the Newfoundland fisheries. As early as 1504, 
the Portuguese had begun to catch cod there; 
fifteen years later, the crews of forty vessels 
belonging to Portuguese, Spaniards and French- 
men were thus employed. In 1578, England had 
50 vessels, Portugal 50 and France and Spain 
150 occupied in reaping the harvest of the sea in 
the North Atlantic. 

The value of Newfoundland as a fishing station 
having been demonstrated, it was resolved to 
send colonists thither. The first essay towards 
carrying out this resolve was made by Mr. Robert 

B 2 



4 England's Oldest Colony, 

Thorne of Bristol, in 1527; the second, bj Mr. 
Hore of London, a man wlioni Hakluyt describes 
as ''of goodly stature and great couraga and 
given to the study of Cosmography." Mr. Hore 
persuaded many gentlemen and others to join 
with him in an undertaking which Henry the 
Eighth regarded with approval. The party to 
the number of " about six score persons whereof 
thirty were gentlemen " embarked at Gravesend, 
towards the end of April 1536, in the Trinity and 
Minion. Before embarking, the entire party 
'* mustered in warlike manner and received the 
Sacrament." They returned home in October 
after visiting Newfoundland, getting a glimpse of 
the natives, observing that the land was covered 
with fir and pine trees, undergoing such great 
privations through lack of provisions that the 
strong killed the weak and ate their flesh. The 
survivors took forcible possession of a French 
ship and sailed in it to England. It is related 
by Hakluyt that Mr. Thomas Buts, one of the 
party, " was so changed in the voyage with 
hunger and misery " that his father and mother 
Sir William and Lady Buts, of Norfolk, " knew 
him not to be their son, until they found a secret 
mark which was a wart upon one of his knees." 

The subsequent action of the French crew, 
whom the English had shamefully used, gave 



Products of the Island. 5 

Henry the Eiglitli an opportunity to display the 
better side of his character. Hakluyt records 
that these Frenchmen reached England certain 
months after " and made complaint to King 
Henry the Eighth : the King causing the matter 
to be examined, and finding the great distress of 
his subjects, and the causes of the dealing so 
with the French, was so moved with pity, that he 
punished not his subjects, but of his own purse 
made full and royal recompense unto the 
French." 1 

The most detailed account of ISTewfoundland as 
it appeared to the early visitors is contained in a 
letter of Mr. Anthony Parkhurst of Bristol to 
Mr. Richard Hakluyt of the Middle Temple, 
dated 13th of November 1578. Parkhurst had 
made several voyages to the Island, and Hakluyt 
having applied to him for information, Parkhurst 
said in reply that he hoped Hakluyt would use 
his influence to induce men in power to help in 
christianizing Newfoundland or rather, as he 
phrases it, " to redeem the people of Newfound- 
land and those parts from out of the captivity of 
that spiritual Pharaoh, the devil." He gives a 
glowing picture of the Island. He says that the 
soil is good and fertile, that, in sundry places, he 
had '' sown wheat, barley, rye, oats, beans, peas, 

* Hakluyt's Works, ed. 1810, vol. 3, pp. 168—170. 



6 England's Oldest Colony, 

and seeds of herbs, kernels, plumstones, nuts, all 
of wliich liave prospered as in England. The 
country yieldeth many good trees of fruit, as 
filberts in some places, but in all places cherry 
trees, and a kind of pear tree meet to graft on. 
As for roses they are as common as brambles 
here; strawberries, dewberries and raspberries, 
as common as grass. The timber is most fir, yet 
plenty of pineapple trees ; few of these two kinds 
meet to mast a ship of three score and ten 
[tons] ; but near Cape Breton, and to the South- 
ward, big and sufficient for any ship. There be 
also oaks and thorns, there is in all the country 
plenty of birch and alder, which be the meetest 
wood for cold, and also willow, which w^ill serve 
for any other purposes. As touching the kinds 
of fish beside cod, there are herrings, salmons, 
thornebacke, plaice, or rather we should call 
them flounders, dog fish, and another mosjb ex- 
cellent of taste called by ns a cat, oysters and 
muscles, in which I have found pearls above forty 
in one muscle, and generally all have some, great 
or small. I heard of a Portugal that found one 
worth 300 ducats. There are also other kinds 
of shell fish, as limpets, cockles, wilks, lobsters 
and crabs ; also a fish like a smelt which cometh 
on shore, and another that hath the like property, 
called a squid." He calls the climate temperate 
and far pleasanter than might be supposed from 
the tales of " foolish mariners.'* He depicts the 
land as being intersected with rivers and covered 



Rich in Minerals. 7 

in places witli lakes full of fish : " There are 
plenty of bears everywhere, so that you may kill 
of them as oft as you list ; their flesh is as good 
as young beef, and hardly you may know the one 
from the other if it be powdered but two days. 
Of otters we may take like store. There are sea- 
gulls, murres, ducks, wild geese, and many other 
kind of birds store, too long to write, especially 
at one island named Penguin, where we may drive 
them on a plank into our ship, as many as shall 
lade her." Deer, hares, foxes and wolves 
abounded. In addition to possessing a fruitful 
soil, and many varieties of trees, animals and fish, 
the Island was believed by Parkhurst to be 
rich in minerals; he had found and brought 
home with him specimens of iron and copper 
ore. 

The foregoing particulars, which Parkhurst 
communicated to Hakluyt, were doubtless known 
to many persons and increased their desire to 
colonize the Island. In the year that Parkhurst's 
letter was written, Sir Humphrey Gilbert pro- 
cured Letters Patent from Queen Elizabeth autho- 
rizing him to search for and occupy unknown 
lands or places which were not in the occupation 
of the subjects of any Christian potentate. In 
those days, as at a later time, the natives of a 
country whose skins were dark and who had 
never heard of Christ, were denied any rights 



8 England's Oldest Colony, 

wliicli wMte-faced Christians were bound to 
respect. The Christians considered themselves 
justified in taking possession of the lands of these 
heathen barbarians on the plea that they would 
teach them to read the Bible and rescue them 
from the dominion of Satan. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's first attempt at ex- 
ploration failed after he had collected a fleet and 
persuaded many persons to join him. He returned 
to England without accomplishing anything, and 
with the loss of a vessel. Sir Walter Raleigh, 
his half-brother, who was associated with him in 
the enterprise,was to have accompanied him when 
he set out the second time, from Causet bay 
near Plymouth, on the 11th of June 1583 ; but 
Ealeigh did not go and the vessel which he had 
fitted out put back to port shortly after sailing. 
However, Raleigh sent a letter to Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert, immediately before the latter sailed, 
containing a message from Queen Elizabeth to 
the effect that she wished him " as great good hap 
and safety to his ship as if she herself were there 
in person," this letter being accompanied with a 
jewel from the Queen in the form of an anchor 
guided by a lady. A narrative of the expedition 
has been written by Captain Hayes, one of the 
few survivors. He says the fleet consisted of five 
vessels, tlie JDeligU^ 120 tons burden, the Baleigh 



Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Mission. 9 

200 tons, the Golden Rind 40 tons, the Srvalloto 
40 tons, and tlie Squirrel 10 tons. The party 
numbered about 260, " among whom we had of 
every faculty good choice, as shipwrights, masons, 
carpenters, smiths and such like, requisite to 
such an action ; also mineral men and refiners. 
Besides, for solace of our people, and allurements 
of the savages, we were provided of music in 
good variety : not omitting the least toys, as 
morris dancers, hobby horses and Maylike con- 
ceits to delight the savage people, whom we 
intended to win by all fair means possible. And 
to that end we were indifferently furnished of all 
pretty haberdashery wares to barter 'with those 
simple people." 

Their first mischance, as has been stated, was 
that the Raleigh parted compauy soon after sailing, 
and put back ; their second was that the crew of 
tlje Swallow engaged in piracy. However, they 
reached the harbour of St. Johns, Newfoundland 
on the 3rd of August. The next day being 
Sunday, Sir Humphrey and his company went on 
shore under the escort of the English merchants, 
" who showed us their accustomed walks unto a 
place they call the Garden. But nothing appeared 
more than Nature itself without art, who con- 
fusedly hath brought forth roses abundantly, 
wild, but odoriferous and to sense very com- 
fortable. Also the like plenty of raspberries, 
which do grow in every place." On the following 



lo EnglancTs Oldest Colony, 

day, Sir Humphrey Grilbert read Ms Letters 
Patent and took possession of the country in the 
Queen's name. A fortnight was spent in ex- 
ploring the country and in trying to communicate 
with the aborigines. It was found that there 
were no natives in the Southern part, and it was 
supposed that this arose from the south coast 
" being so much frequented by Christians." In 
the Northern part they found savages who were 
" altogether harmless." 

The country pleased them. They liked the 
climate ; they were struck with the abundance of 
fish and game and with the fine flowers which 
grew luxuriantly. Indeed, Captain Hayes ex- 
presses his thankfulness to God for having super- 
abundantly replenished the earth with creatures 
for the use of man, though man hath not used a 
fifth part of the same, and this consideration, in 
his opinion, '' doth aggravate the fault and foolish 
sloth in many of our nation, choosing rather to 
live indirectly, and very miserably to live and die 
within this realm pestered with inhabitants, than 
to adventure as becometh men, to obtain a 
habitation in those remote lands, in which Nature 
very prodigally doth minister unto men's en- 
deavours, and for art to work upon.'* Captain 
Hayes notes that there are traces of minerals in 
many places, that iron is plentiful, and that lead 



Daniel Discovers Silver, 1 1 

and copper are to be met with. Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert's avowed desire was to discover silver or 
gold. " Amongst other charges given to inquire 
out the singularities of this country, the General 
(Sir Humphrey) was most curious in the search 
of metals, commanding the mineral man and 
refiner, especially to be diligent. The same was 
a Saxon born, honest and religious, named Daniel, 
who after search brought at first some sort of ore, 
seeming rather to be iron than other metal. The 
next time he found ore, which with no small show 
of contentment he delivered unto the General, 
using protestation, that if silver were the thing 
which might satisfy the General and his followers, 
there it was, advising him to seek no further : the 
peril whereof he undertook upon his life (as dear 
unto him as the Crown of England unto her 
Majesty, that I may use his own words) if it fell 
not out accordingly." Captain Hayes avows that 
he was sceptical about the value of the '^ mineral 
man's " discovery, and adds Sir Humphrey 
was so thoroughly satisfied that he took pre- 
cautions to keep the discovery a secret lest the 
Portuguese and French, who were in force there, 
might seize the DeligJit freighted with the precious 
ore. The Delight was lost soon after on Sable 
Island, the island on which the Cunard steamer 
Britannia grounded for a short time when Charles 
Dickens crossed the Atlantic in 1842. A man of 
letters, who was a passenger on board the Delight, 



12 England s Oldest Colony, 

perislied when that vessel was wrecked. This 
was Stephanus ParmeDius, a learned Hungarian 
who, in the language of Captain Hayes, " of piety 
and zeal to good attempts, adventured in this 
action, minding to record in the Latin tongue, 
the gests and things worthy of remembrance, 
happening in this discovery, to the honour of our 
nation, tlia same being adorned with the eloquent 
stjle of this orator and rare poet of our time." The 
only record of the voyage, which this learned Hun- 
garian has left, is a Latin epistle writtenat St. Johns 
and addressed to Hakluyt who has turned it into 
English. What impressed Parmenius the most was 
the incredible abundance of fish, " whereby great 
gain grows to them that travel to these parts : the 
hook is no sooner thrown out, but it is eftsoones 
drawn up with some goodly fish : the whole land 
is full of hills and woods. The trees for the most 
part are pines and of them some are very old, 
and some young : a great part of them being 
fallen by reason of their age, doth so hinder the 
sight of the land, and stop the way of those that 
seek to travel, that they can go no whither : all 
the grass here is long and tall, and little differeth 
from ours. It seemeth also that the nature of 
this soil is fit for corn : for I found certain blades 
and ears in a manner bearded, so that it appeareth 
that by manuring and sowing, they may easily be 
framed for the use of man : here are in the woods 
bush berries or rather strawberries, growing up 
like trees, of great sweetness. Bears also appear 



Result of Mineral Discoveries, 1 3 

about the fishers' stages of the country, and are 
sometimes killed, but thej seem to be white, as I 
conjectured by their skins, and somewhat less 
than ours." 

Another passenger whose loss was even more 
lamented was Daniel, ^' our Saxon refiner and dis- 
coverer of inestimable riches." Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert deeply mourned the loss of Daniel and of the 
ore on board the DeUght as well as of his own notes 
and books. The discovery of ore had altered his 
opinion as regards Newfoundland and he intimated 
that, whereas he previously had a great pre- 
dilection for the southern part of the ISTorth 
American Continent, now he was wholly in 
favour of the northern. Had he been spared, it is 
probable that the colonization of Virginia might 
not have taken place for a longer space of time. 
The failure of his expedition to JSTewfoundland 
directed all the thoughts and efforts of Sir Walter 
Raleigh and others towards effecting the settlement 
of Virginia. Sir Humphrey's confidence was so 
extreme that he believed he could persuade Queen 
Ehzabeth to lend him 10,0001. wherewith to pro- 
secute his enterprise the following spring. His 
hopes were destined to die with him and that 
speedily. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's death is one of the 
tragic episodes in the annals of adventure. He 



14 England's Oldest Colony, 

resolved to sail home in the Squirrel a cockle 
shell of 10 tons. He was entreated to leave that 
vessel and take passage in the Golden Hind, being 
urged to make the exchange on the ground that 
he ran great risk by remaining in the Squirrel, 
His admirable reply was " I will not forsake my 
little company going homeward, with whom I 
have passed so many storms and perils." Soon 
after he had. thus spoken the wind blew a gale 
and the sea raged tumultuously so that both vessels 
were in extreme peril. On the afternoon of Mon- 
day the 9th of September 1583, the Squirrel nearly 
foundered, but the vessel recovering. Sir Hum- 
phrey was seen by those in the Golden Hind seated 
on the deck with a book in his hand, and he was 
heard exclaiming, whenever the vessels ap- 
proached within speaking distance of each other, 
" we are as near to heaven by sea as by land." 
Captain Hayes adds : " The same Monday night, 
about 12 of the clock, or not long after, the 
Squirrel being ahead of us in the Golden Hind, 
suddenly her lights were out, whereof as it were 
in a moment, we lost the sight, and withal our 
watch cryed, the General was cast away, which 
was too true." 

The tangible result of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's 
expedition was the formal addition of Newfound- 
land to the English realm. After he had read 



Wkitdourne' s Account, 15 

his Letters Patent; "had delivered tinto him 
(after the custom of England) a rod and a 
turf of soil," set up the arms of England, en- 
graved on lead, in a conspicuous place, there 
could be no dispute as to which European State 
had professed to have taken possession of the 
Island. He followed the ceremony of taking 
possession with an act of legislation, promulgating 
three Laws which were to take immediate effect, 
the first ordaining that the public exercise of re- 
ligion should be after the pattern of the Church 
of England; the second enjoining the pains and 
penalties of high treason against the persons 
who should question or attack the Queen's 
title to the country; the third providing that 
'' if any person shall utter words sounding 
to the dishonour of her Majesty, he should 
lose his ears, and have his ship and goods 
confiscate." 

Captain Richard Whitbourne, the author of the 
first bookwritten about Newfoundland, was present 
on this occasion. He confirms the reports of other 
observers as to the fruitf ulness of the land. Fruits, 
flowers and herbs he saw growing in great pro- 
fusion ; moreover, there was *' great store of 
deer's flesh in that country, and no want of good 
fish, good fowd, good fresh water, and store of 



1 6 England^ s Oldest Colony, 

wood. Bj wliicli commodities people may live 
very pleasantly." He argued with great show 
of reason that such a country was well adapted 
for settlement. He held, not only that people 
could make new and comfortable homes for them- 
selves there, but also " that by a plantation there 
and by that means only, the poor mis- believing 
inhabitants of that country may be reduced from 
barbarism to the knowledge of God and the light 
of his truth, and to a civil and regular kind of 
life and government." 

Both Captain Hayes and Captain "Whitbourne 
saw strange monsters during their visits to ISTew- 
foundland. The latter minutely describes an 
anim.al which he fancies to be a merman or mer- 
maid, but which was probably a seal. The 
former thus describes a monster which bears a 
resemblance to that represented in the accounts of 
the sea serpent : " Upon Saturday in the after- 
noon the 31st of August [1583] we changed our 
course, and returned back for England, at which 
very instant, even in winding about, there passed 
along between us and towards the land which we 
now forsook a very lion to our seeming, in shape, 
hair and colour, not swimming after the manner 
of a beast by moving of his feefc, but rather sliding 
upon the water with his whole body (excepting 
the legs) in sight, neither yet diving under, and 
again rising above the water, as the manner is, 



First Colonists, ly 

of whales, dolphins, tunnies, porpoises and other 
fish ; but confidently showing himself above water 
without hiding, notwithstanding we presented 
ourselves in open view and gesture to amaze him, 
as all creatures will be commonly at a sudden 
gaze and sight of men. Thus he passed along 
turning his head to and fro, yawning and gaping 
wide, with ugly demonstration of long teeth, and 
glaring eyes, and to bid us a farewell (coming 
right against the Hind) he sent forth a horrible 
voice, roaring and bellowing as doth alien, which 
spectacle we all beheld so far as we were able to 
discern the same, as men prone to wonder at 
every strange thing, as this doubtless was, to see 
a lion in the Ocean sea, or fish in shape of a 
lion."2 

The colonization of Newfoundland was one of 
Bacon's favourite projects; he believed that the 
country was well suited for settlement and that 
the surrounding sea contained even more precious 
treasure than that which was embedded in the 
mountains of Mexico and Peru. He was a 
partner in a company which obtained an exten- 
sive grant of land in Newfoundland from James 
the First, and John Guy, a merchant of Bristol, 
was sent forth to found a colony at Conception 
Bay. He sailed from Bristol in 1610 with 
three ships filled with emigrants, established 



Hakluyt, vol. 3, p. 200. 



1 8 England's Oldest Colony. 

himself and his followers at the appointed place 
and opened up an intercourse with the Indians. 
For some unexplained reason many of the colo- 
nists determined to return home, which they did 
in 1612. Eleven years later Sir George Calvert 
obtained a large grant of land from the King 
which he styled the Province of Avalon. Here 
he built himself a house and settled with his 
family and several followers. A French settle- 
ment had been made not far distant and the rival 
settlers were on terms of enmity. Sir George 
Calvert built a fort to protect his settlement from 
the attacks of the French ; he became tired, how- 
ever, of the hostilities which he had to wage and 
returned with his family to England. He re- 
ceived from Charles the First a grant of land on 
the American Continent where he founded a 
highly successful colony, the land itself being now 
known as the State of Maryland. Lord Falkland 
sent a few colonists to Newfoundland from Ire- 
land in 1628 and a few more went from England 
under the supervision of Sir David Kirk in 1654 
and with the sanction of the Parliament. 

Charles the First considered it his duty to issue 
a code of laws to govern the Newfoundland 
fishermen. According to this code any person 
accused of murder or theft of articles valued 
at 40 shillings was to be brought to England for 



Laws of Charles /. 19 

trial; all persons were prohibited from casting 
ballast into liarbours or destroying tbe stages used 
in drying and curing fish ; it was ordered tliat, 
according to ancient custom, tlie master of the 
ship which first entered the harbour at the begin- 
ning of the fishery should be Admiral, and exercise 
jurisdiction over the others and enjoy special 
privileges ; all persons were forbidden to deface 
or alter the distinguishing marks on boats, to 
purloin salt or other provision belonging to the 
fishing trade, to set fire to the woods of the 
country or work detriment to them by "rinding 
of the trees," to cast anchor where the hauling 
of bait might be hindered, to rob the nets of 
others, or take bait out of their boats and, lastly, 
it was enjoined that the ships' companies should 
assemble on Sundays and hear Divine service read 
to them, the prayers to be '* such as are in the 
Book of Common Prayer." In this summary of 
the laws which Charles issued, I have omitted 
the tenth Clause of the Commission which is in 
some respects the most noteworthy, being one of 
the earliest attempts made to suppress the sale 
not only of strong drink but also of tobacco. Its 
terms are : " That no person do set up any tavern 
for selling of wine, beer, or strong waters, cyder 
or tobacco, to entertain the fishermen ; because it 
is found that by such means they are debauched, 

c 2 



20 England's Oldest Colony. 

neglecting their labour, and poor ill-governed men 
not only spend most part of their shares before 
they come home upon which the life and mainte- 
nance of their wives and children depend, but are 
likewise hurtful in divers other ways, as, by 
neglecting and making themselves unfit for their 
labour, by purloining and stealing from their 
owners, and making unlawful shifts to supply 
their disorders, which disorders they frequently 
follow since these occasions have presented them- 
selves." 

Two hundred years elapsed after Charles the 
First gave these laws to Newfoundland before the 
people of the Island exercised the right of legis- 
lating for themselves. In that long interval the 
Islanders were treated as children who did not 
know what was good for them and their Island 
was regarded as nothing more than a fishing 
station. Indeed, the utmost efforts were used to 
prevent its becoming anything else. The wish of 
any person to settle and till the soil was thwarted 
in every possible way. The masters of vessels 
were strictly prohibited from carrying any settlers 
thither. If was supposed that, if the Island were 
covered with persons engaged in farming or cattle 
rearing, the fisheries would be neglected. This 
dread led to the issuing of the most iniquitous 
decree for which the Government of any civilized 
community can be held responsible. At the in- 



Settlement Impeded, 2 1 

stance, as was supposed, of Sir Josiali Child, a 
London mercliant, a man accounted far more en- 
lightened than his contemporaries and one of 
the earliest writers on Political Economy, the 
Government of Charles the Second decreed the 
destruction of the colony. Sir John Berry being 
commissioned to burn down the houses in order 
that the settlers might be compelled to depart. 
This inhuman edict was modified through the 
representations made to the King by John 
Downing, a settler ; his Majesty being graciously 
pleased to command that the houses were to be 
allowed to remain. However, rigid steps were 
taken for hindering any person residing on the 
Island who was not directly engaged in the 
fisheries. 

Down to the year 1811, no house could be erected 
on the Island without the written permission of 
the Governor. Letters are extant showing that 
the Governors ordered the demolition of houses 
erected there without their consent and also that 
they forbade the cultivation of the soil. The 
following example of this almost incredible policy 
is to be lound in a letter written in October, 1790, 
by Governor Milbanke to George Hutchins : " I 
have considered your request respecting the 
alteration which you wish to make in your store- 
house near the waterside, and as it appears that 



2 5 England'^s Oldest Colony. 

tlie alteration will not be in any ways injurious to 
the fisliery, you have hereby permission to make 
it. As to Alexander Long's house, which has 
been built contrary to his Majesty's express com- 
mands, made known to the inhabitants of this 
place by my proclamation of the 13th of last 

October, it must and shall come down I 

shall embrace this opportunity of warning you 
against making an improper use of any other part 
of (what you are pleased to call) your ground, 
for you may rest assured that every house or 
other building erected upon it hereafter, without 
the permission — in writing — of the Governor 
for the time being — except such building and 
erection as shall be actually on purpose for the 
curing, salting, drying and husbanding of fish . . 
•must unavoidably be taken down and removed, in 
obedience to his Majesty's said commands. And 
it may not be amiss at the same time to inform 
you, I am also directed not to allow any posses- 
sion as private property to be taken of, or any 
right of property whatever to be acknowledged 
in any land whatever which is not actually em- 
ployed in the fishery." 

The conduct of Governor Milbanke was not 
exceptional ; his successor Governor Waldegrave 
wrote in the same strain and acted in the same 
style. In a letter addressed to the sheriff in 
1797, he says : " Your having suffered Thomas 
Nevan to put up what you are pleased to call a 
few sheds, is clearly an infraction of my orders ; 



Co7idition of the Fishermen, 23 

you will therefore direct him to remove them 
immediately ; which, if not complied with, I desire 
that you will yourself see this order executed. 
You will take good care that Jeremiah Marroty 
and John Fitzgerald do not erect chimneys to 
their sheds, or even light fires in them of any 
kind." The parental despotism which interfered 
with the building of houses and the construction 
of chimneys naturally extended to the prices of 
provisions. Thus, Governor Edwards having 
issued a decree that the price of beef, veal and 
mutton was to be Is. per lb. and Luke Ryan 
having sold beef at Is. Zdb. a lb., the latter was 
fined 10?. for his offence. The boatkeepers at 
Harbour Grace, having complained of the mer- 
chants charging too much for provisions, the 
Governor ordered that the prices charged there 
should be the same as at St. Johns, notwithstand- 
ing that the extra carriage to Harbour Grace 
necessitated the imposition of a higher charge in 
order to reap a profit corresponding to that ob- 
tained at St. Johns. Governor Waldegrave 
recognized the fact that the fishermen had a 
hard struggle for subsistence. He describes the 
fishermen, in a letter to the Duke of Portland, as 
"a set of unfortunate beings, working like slaves, 
and hazarding their lives, when, at the expiration 
of their term (however successful their exertions), 
they find themselves not only without gain, but so 



24 England^ s Oldest Colony. 

deeply indebted as forces tTiem to emigrate, or 
drives them to despair." The foregoing remarks 
on the condition of the fishermen were elicited bj 
a remonstrance from the merchants against the 
fishermen at Burin being suffered to emigrate. 
Many instances occur in the history of Newfound- 
land which prompt the inquiry whether an essen- 
tial difference existed between the relation of the 
fishermen to the merchants in that Island and 
that of the slaves to their masters in the "West 
India Islands and the Southern States of the 
Union ? 

The picture given of the condition of New- 
foundland at the end of the last century is not a 
pleasing one. The poorer classes were in great 
suffering and were naturally discontented with 
their hard lot. The richer classes displayed, ac- 
cording to Governor Waldegrave, " an insolent 
idea of independence (which will some day show 
itself more forcibly) and a firm resolution to 
oppose every measure of government which a 
Governor may think proper to propose for the 
general benefit of the Island." One of the reasons 
which made him think so was the refusal of the 
merchants to submit to taxation. The consump- 
tion of rum having increased to a great extent, 
the Governor estimated that a tax of sixpence 
a gallon levied upon the rum imported would 



Increase of Paupeinsm, 25 

defray tlie entire cost of tlie Government and 
that it would be fairer to do this than to call 
upon the Mother Country to bear the burden. 
When the merchants were sounded on the sub- 
ject, they expressed their sentiments in a letter 
which is a curiosity in its way. They stated that 
they would be " extremely concerned to see any 
species of taxes introduced into this Island, which 
would inevitably be burdensome and inconvenient 
to the trade and fishery in general, and we trust 
that in the wisdom of his Majesty's Ministers, no 
such innovation will take place." During his 
Administration an attempt was made to provide 
relief for the destitute, a fund being formed for 
the purpose by voluntary subscription. That 
plan afterwards gave place to a regular system of 
charity from funds raised by taxation. The demand 
for relief has gone on increasing at so rapid a 
rate as to suggest that something must be 
seriously wrong in the system which leads to 
such a result. Two generations after the intro- 
duction of the palliative which Governor Walde- 
grave devised for the succour of the destitute, one- 
third of the public expenditure of the Colony was 
absorbed in pauper relief. 

The retention of the fisheries on the Banks of 
Newfoundland in British hands was for many 
years the great object of British statesmen. The 



26 England's Oldest Colony. 

elder Pitt, in one of his impassioned speeches, 
declared those fisheries to be so valuable to the 
country that they must be preserved even though 
foreign soldiers had captured the Tower of 
London. Whatever tended to promote the fish- 
eries was favourably regarded by the British 
Government, while any scheme for benefiting the 
people of Newfoundland was either regarded with 
indifference or rejected as inopportune. In con- 
sequence of this the Islanders made but little 
progress ; their numbers were comparatively 
small; the fixed population of the Island did not 
much exceed 10,000 at the beginning of the 
present century. During the winter season, when 
the fishery was over, it was deemed appropriate 
that the Governor should leave the Island. It 
was not till 1818 that Governor Pickmore broke 
through the established rule and lived there all 
the year round. Since then the Governor finds 
plenty to occupy himself in winter as well as in 
summer, and the office itself has not only risen 
in dignity, but has also been illustrated by men of 
great capacity and distinction. 

The slowness with which this Colony made its 
way to the position which it now occupies cannot 
be better exemplified than by the fact that, not 
till 1807, was a newspaper published there. Its 
modern history dates from 1855 when responsible 



Responsible Government Granted, 27 

Govermnent was granted. Twentj-two years 
earlier a Representative Assembly was constituted. 
It is since the Colony has been truly self-govern- 
ing, that its progress has been most marked, and 
that its dissensions have become less serious and 
violent. Although a large part of the people 
from the earliest days belonged to the Church 
of E/Ome, it was not till 1784 that a Eoman 
Catholic priest was permitted to discharge in 
public the duties of his sacred calling. Till 1875, 
the subject of religious teaching in public schools 
was a constant source of discussion and bitter- 
ness. No system of general education meeting 
with approval, the young were prevented from 
having a fair start in life. Now, however, 
there is a national system of education based 
on the plan of dividing the fund voted by the 
Legislative Assembly among the several bodies in 
proportion to their numbers, and thus the chief 
step has been taken to ensure that future genera- 
tions of Newfoundlanders will be wiser than their 
progenitors. Other changes and movements in 
the path of progress will be noted hereafter. 

II. 

Though St. Johns, the Capital of Newfoundland, is 
about 1000 miles nearer the United Engdom than 



28 England's Oldest Colony, 

N'ew York, the means of communication are greater 
between Liverpool and New York than between 
Liverpool and St. Johns. An Allan steamer 
runs direct between Newfoundland and the United 
Kingdom every fortnight during nine months in 
the year, while passengers and letters are con- 
veyed by way of Halifax during the other three 
months. If the Government of Newfoundland 
did not pay the Allan Company a subsidy of 
12,000Z. the facilities for passing from the Island 
of Great Britain to the Island of Newfoundland 
would be even less than they are, while the postal 
arrangements would be as primitive as in the days 
of Queen Elizabeth. This constitutes one of the 
grievances, referred to at the outset, which gives 
the Islanders greater concern than the climate. 
It is held by them that the Mother Country ought 
at least to contribute something towards the mail 
service between the two Islands. 

I visited Newfoundland in the Allan liner 
Gasp.an^ under the command of Captain Trocks, 
an experienced sailor and excellent man. The 
Caspian is one of three steamers which ply 
between Liverpool and Baltimore, touching at St. 
Johns and Halifax. Two thirds of my fellow- 
passengers were Newfoundlanders, all of whom 
were firmly of opinion that St. Johns was a city 
second to none, that the climate of the Island was 



Views of the Islanders, 29 

unequalled for salubrity and tliat the Island was 
as nearly perfect as any otlier spot on tlie earth's 
surface. When it was suggested that improve- 
ments might be possible, that the interior of 
the Island should be thoroughly explored, that its 
agricultural and mineral resources could be better 
developed, and that railways might prove of 
great service in these respects, some of them 
scouted the very notion as superlatively absurd. 
It seems natural for Newfoundland to form part 
of the Dominion of Canada ; yet, when union 
was proposed, the opposition in the Island was 
overwhelming. Mr. Bennett, the Premier at 
that time, looked upon the scheme with genuine 
horror, and he laboured with mortifying success 
to convince his prejudiced fellows that Confedera- 
tion would be succeeded by increased taxation, 
their virtual enslavement and utter ruin. Many 
men have prospered exceedingly under the exist- 
ing Government in Newfoundland and they are 
apprehensive of the effects of any change and 
indisposed to hasten it. The rich merchants 
apparently consider that everything has been 
ordered for the best in the best of all islands, 
whilst the poor are too ignorant to appreciate the 
changes which would prove beneficial* and too 
inert to agitate for them. If money and know- 
ledge were more equally disseminated the aversion 



30 England^ s Oldest Colony, 

to now things and ideas would be less, while tlie 
desire to know more about the Island itself, and 
contribute towards its farther development would 
be far greater. Extraordinary though the state- 
ment may seem, it is literally true that the interior 
of Newfoundland, especially to^wards the northern 
side, is as undeveloped a region as the middle of 
Greenland, and the heart of Africa. 

When the weather is propitious the approach 
to the Island impresses every admirer of grand 
scenery. I was told that the spectacle was strik- 
ing ; the reality exceeded my anticipations. On 
either hand, as far as the eye can reach, the rocks 
which rise from the sea to the height of several 
hundred feet, are moulded into fantastic forms by 
the incessant dashing against them of the Atlantic 
waves. The masses of floating ice play a part in 
affecting the appearance of the rocks. Naviga- 
tion in the spring is rendered hazardous here 
owing to icebergs and fields of ice. As the Caspian 
nears the land it is difficult to understand where 
the entrance occurs into the famous harbour of St. 
Johns ; it is not till the steamer is comparatively 
close in shore that a breach is seen in the rock bound 
coast, which is 220 fathoms wide at the inlet, and 
95 at the opposite end of the Narrows where the 
harbour is reached, this harbour being a sheet of 
land-locKed deep water, a mile and a quarter long 



The Capital of Newfoundland. 31 

and one-tMrd of a mile wide. With tlie exception 
of Halifax, there is no finer harbour in this region 
of the world. In former days it was hard for a 
ship to run the gauntlet of forts which command 
the Narrows. If the old fortifications were re- 
paired and put into a proper state of defence no 
hostile force could pass or take them. St Johns 
has not inaptly been styled the Gibraltar of the 
Atlantic. 

The capital of ^Newfoundland is situated on the 
slope of a hill. Its population at the time of the 
last census was 30,574. This was in 1874, and 
and it showed an increase over the census taken 
in 1869 of seventeen hundred persons. As there 
is much building going on, it may be assumed 
that the population of St Johns is increasing at a 
satisfactory rate. Though founded so long ago 
as the year 1572, the city has none of the marks of 
age. This modern look is due to the fact that the 
houses are all of recent date, having been erected 
within the last 30 years. More than once the 
entire city has been swept away by fire, and the 
last time this occurred the impression made was 
so profound that proper precautions are now 
observed to hinder a recurrence of the like calamity. 
In the lower streets, where an outbreak of fire 
would be most serious, as the flames would 
spread from them to the buildings in the upper 



32 England's Oldest Colony, 

streets, the erection of wooden structures is 
absolutely prohibited. Moreover an ample 
service of water, always available, has been 
provided for the extinction of a fire in any part 
of the city. At the water's level there are 
wharves which run round the Bay. They are 
lined with stores in which the process of extract- 
ing oil from seals is carried on, and with ware- 
houses in which cod are packed for exportation. 
Behind the wharves on the North side is Water 
Street, about a mile and a half long, wherein are 
the principal shops and merchant's warehouses, 
the post-office and the Custom House. This 
street has the uninviting aspect of similar streets 
in seaport towns, the services of a scavenger 
being obviously required. The other streets are 
cleaner and they contain many neat houses of 
brick or wood. 

The most conspicuous edifice in St. Johns, 
when approached from the sea, is the Eoman 
Catholic Cathedral. It is built of stone ; its form 
is that of a Latin cross; its extreme length is 
237 feet ; it has two towers which rise to the 
height of 138 feet. Internally it is richly orna- 
mented. Close at hand the Church of England 
Cathedral is now in course of erection from the 
design of the late Sir Gilbert Scott. Its length 
is 120 feet, its width is 56 feet and its tower and 



Public Buildings, 33 

spire are to be 130 feet high. The nave was 
finished and opened for divine service in 1852. 
At that time the cost was $200,000, and at least 
another $100,000 must be expended before the 
building is finished. When complete in all its 
parts, this Cathedral will be one of the grandest 
piles on this side of the Atlantic. There are 
other churches belonging either to the Roman 
Catholics or to members of the Church of Eno^- 
land. The Weslejan Methodists possess more 
than one church, and the Presbyterians who, 
though small in number, abound in intellect and 
wealth, have recently erected a very tasteful 
stone Church at a cost of $50,000. Among the 
public buildings which attract a stranger's notice 
is the Athenasum, where lectures and concerts 
take place, and which has a library and reading- 
room for the use of the members; it is the 
property of a company and it is so admirably 
managed as to yield a dividend to its proprietors. 
St. Patrick's Hall, a more recent structure, is 
also used for public meetings. No public 
building is so noticeable at night as the Custom 
House owing to the large red light which shines 
from the upper part and serves as a beacon to 
vessels passing through the Narrows into the 
Bay. 

The Colonial Building or Parliament House 

D 



34 England's Oldest Colo7iy, 

and tlie Government House are tlie two largest 
public buildings. They are situate on tbe 
plateau whicli stretches for some distance inland 
from the upper part of the city. The view of the 
surrounding country is not unlike that from the 
elevated ground in Soath Devon and far more 
picturesque than that which the stranger expects 
to find in an Island which has been depicted as 
barren and unattractiYC. The eye gazes upon 
cultivated fields, clumps of trees, villas encom- 
passed with gardens. The Colonial Building is 
surrounded by balsam poplars. The building is 
of white limestone imported from Cork ; it has a 
stone portico supported by pillars, the front re- 
sembling that of the British Museum in its 
general outline. In this Building the staff* of 
some of the government departments is accommo- 
dated as well as the Legislative Assembly when 
that body is in session. The Upper House or 
Legislative Council numbers 15, the Lower one, 
or House of Assembly numbers 31. The rule in 
the British House of Commons is not observed in 
the Newfoundland House of Assembly, as to the 
relative positions of the Ministry and the Opposi- 
tion. At present the Newfoundland Opposition 
occupy seats to the right of the Speaker and the 
Ministry to the left. The Ministry may sit on either 
side ; the other members keep their seats irrespec- 



Legislative Assembly. 35 

tive of a change of Government. But tlie most 
comfortable seats are on the Speaker's left 
because a large fireplace is at that side of the 
Chamber. In JSTewfoundland politics, the party 
fai'ther from the fire is the one which experiences 
the " Cold shade of Opposition." The acoustic 
properties of the Chamber are very bad owing, 
possibly, to the great height of the ceiling and to 
the intercepting effect of a large chandelier. As 
it was found that the reporters of the Press could 
not hear the debates in the gallery set apart for 
for them at the end opposite to the Speaker, 
seats have been provided for them close to his 
chair, the members of the Assembly thinking it 
better that reporters should be admitted to the 
body of the Chamber than that their speeches 
should be unrecorded. The qualification for a 
seat in either House of Legislature is the posses- 
sion of an income not less than $400 or of 
property to the nett value of $2000. Every male 
person who has attained the age of 21 years and 
has occupied a dwelling-house for a year as 
tenant or proprietor is an elector. Votes are 
recorded openly in the old English fashion. 

The party lines were drawn between Protestants 
and Roman Catholics and, strange though it may 
seem, the Protestants being styled Conservatives, 
and the Eoman Catholics, Liberals. It would 

D 2 



36 England's Oldest Colony, 

have surprised the late Pope Pius the Ninth, who 
execrated the very epithet Liberal, to have 
learned that his devout adherents in Newfound- 
land gloried in applying it to each other. Happily, 
the days of bitter religious disputes have passed 
away in this Island. I have already stated that 
the question of appropriating the fund for edu- 
cating the people which was the chief subject of 
contention and source of animosity has been 
amicably adjusted by dividing the fund among 
the several religious denominations. Another 
question which also caused strife and ill-feeling, the 
right to control the burying-grounds, has been 
harmoniously settled by each body having pro- 
vided for itself a place for burying the dead. I 
noted a novelty in funerals ; this consisted in the 
coffin, which was borne exposed to sight on a 
vehicle shaped like a cart, being painted light 
blue. 

Government House divides with the Colonial 
Building the honour of being the most important 
in the Island. It is one of the plain stone build- 
ings which Mr. Ruskin has characterized and 
denounced as huge boxes with holes in their sides, 
but which, though deficient in architectural beauty, 
are not lacking in comfort. The grounds about 
it are extensive and well laid out. Sir John 
Glover, the present occupant is one of the best 



The Soil and Climate, 3 7 

Governors whicli tlie Colony has liad; lie lias 
taken great pains to make himself acquainted with 
the scenery and resources of the Island ; he has 
outstripped his predecessors in this respect and no 
native has a stronger faith than his as to its future 
capabilities. It is pleasant to be able to add that 
he enjoys the popularity among all classes which 
he richly merits. Before passing from these 
official buildings, I may state that the house of 
Sir William Whiteway, the present Prime Minister, 
which is not far distant from them, has a garden 
attached to it which charmed me greatly. I was 
struck with the number and beauty of the flowers 
in all the private gardens, but this one impressed 
me the most. Among other familiar English 
flowers, I saw dahlias in fine condition and looking 
as if the chmate agreed with them. The condi- 
tion of the gardens was a strong testimony not 
only to the care bestowed upon them, but also to 
the excellence of the climate. 

That the soil and climate of Newfoundland are 
really good is a statement which may be read with 
scepticism. The common opinion is unfavourable 
to both, and this opinion is based upon experience 
gained near the coast. It is a transparent absur- 
dity to take the climate of Paris as representing 
that of all France, to suppose that the fogs which 
sometimes visit London spread on all England, to 



3B England's Oldest Colony. 

maintain tliat the weather whicli prevails in tlie 
city of New York is tlie same as that prevailing in 
San Francisco, and to fancy Berlin, the capital of 
the German empire, enjoying the natural advan- 
tages which have made the vine-clad slopes of the 
Ehine things of beauty and sources of wealth. 
JSTewfoundlaud is not very large, yet it is large 
enough to have a varied climate and a diversified 
soil. The Island is nearly the same size as England; 
its extreme length is 419 miles and, at the widest 
part its width is about 300 ; its coast-line extends 
over 2000 miles and its surface over 40,000,000. 
Mr."W. E. Cormack who traversed the Island from 
East to West in 1822, being the first white man 
who did so, has left a vivid picture of what he 
saw after he had penetrated the dense forest which 
intercepted his path westward and when standing 
on an eminence, he obtained a view of the interior : 
" What a contrast did this present to the conjec- 
tures entertained of Newfoundland ! The hitherto 
mysterious interior lay unfolded upon us — a bound- 
less scene — emerald surface — a vast basin. The 
eye strides again and again over a succession of 
northerly and southerly ranges of green plains, 
marbled with woods and lakes of every form and 
extent, a picture of all the luxurious scenes of 
national cultivation receding into invisibleness. . . 
The great external features of the eastern portion 
of the main body of the Island are seen from these 



Newfoundland Railway, 39 

commanding heights. Overland communication 
between the bays of the east, north and south 
Coasts, it appears, might easily be established. . . 
We descended into the bosom of the interior. 
The plains which shone so brilliantly are steppes 
or savannas, composed of fine black compact peat 
mould, formed by the growth and decay of mosses. 
They are in the form of extensive gently undulat- 
ing beds, stretching northward and southward, 
with running waters and lakes, skirted with woods, 
lying between them. Their yellow green surfaces 
are sometimes uninterrupted by either tree, shrub, 
rock, or any irregularity, for more than ten miles. 
They are chequered everywhere upon the surface 
by deep beaten deer paths and are in reality mag- 
nificent natural deer parks, adorned with wood 
and water." 

Not till a few years ago was it determined to 
open up the interior of the Island by construct- 
ing a railway across it. A preliminary survey 
was made in 1868 at the instance and cost of Mr. 
Sandford Fleming, the eminent Canadian Engi- 
neer. In 1875, the Legislature passed an Act for 
a more extended survey. The reports of the 
Engineers confirmed all that had been previously 
written in praise of the Island, while showing how 
easily it was to construct railways there. Nearly 
the whole of the interior is undulating, is covered 
in parts with forest, is intersected with rivers and 
is strewn with lakes. One third is water. The 



40 England's Oldest Colony. 

greater part of the soil is adapted for tlie growth 
of all kinds of vegetables, most kinds of grain 
and even tobacco. On the western side the soil is 
richer and the climate is finer than in the penin- 
sula of Avalon at the East. If the earliest 
settlement had taken place at the western shore 
the Island might now sustain a large population, 
living by the pursuit of agriculture alone. 

Mr. Alexander Murray, the Government Geolo- 
gist of Newfoundland, has carefully analyzed and 
summarized the reports of the railway engineers. 
This summary is the more valuable and instruc- 
tive because Mr. Murray is personally acquainted 
with a large portion of the ground passed over 
and able to estimate the statements made regard- 
ing it. He says, with regard to St. George's Bay 
on the west side, that it forms a convenient har- 
bour and terminus for the trade of the adjacent 
mineral region. Twenty miles from the harbour 
there is a coal-field thirty miles long and ten 
miles broad. " That the Geological character of 
the country over a vast area, extended to the 
northward of Bonne Bay, gives promise of the 
presence of metallic ores, seems well assured ; that 
the Humber Valley contains marbles of nearly every 
shade of colour — some of the saccharine variety 
vieing in purity with the far-famed statuary of 
Carrara — is well known, and, finally, that there is 
nothing less than 1000 square miles of country — 



AgriatlttiraL Prospects. 41 

including tlie Hnmber Valley — scattered over the 
regionj in every respect worthy of being reclaimed, 
Ire-assert with confidence. . . As regards climate 
and the possibilities of agriculture being properly 
pursued, Newfoundland is not, by any means, so 
bad as has often been represented. True indeed 
it is that the eastern sea-board and this (St. 
Johns) immediate part of it, in particular, suffers 
much from the effects of the cold arctic currents 
which, ice-laden, pass along their shores ; but 
even here in St. Johns the drawbacks of a late 
spring are greatly compensated by the unusually 
long continuance of fine weather in the Fall, 
which allows barley and oats to ripen well as late 
as the middle or end of October ; and if we may 
be allowed to judge from the experience of those 
who have spent much time in the interior (among 
whom I am one) the rigours of the coast are to a 
great extent modified there, and fogs are exceed- 
ingly rare. . . Everyone, nowadays, appears ready 
to admit that the Bay of Notre Dame is destined 
to develope itself into a great mining region. 
•Supposing, then, that there were some half a 
dozen such establishments as Tilt Cove and Betts 
Cove in Notre Dame Bay, the mining population 
alone would amount to many thousands of souls, 
to say nothing of horses, cattle and the like. . . 
There are, beyond all doubt, many places border- 
ing on the great Bay of Notre Dame where oats 
and barley, turnips and potatoes can be cultivated 
as well as in any part of Nova Scotia and grass 
crops can be raised as well, if not better, as in 
the most favoured regions of the Dominion." 



42 England's Oldest Colony. 

After exhaustive debates in the NewfoTindland 
Legislature and acrimonious discussion in the 
Press an Act was passed on the 18th of April 
1880 authorizing the construction of a narrow- 
guage railway across the Island with branches to' 
the more important points at a total cost of 
lojOOOjOOO. The ground upon which this legis- 
lative enactment are based may be found in a 
Eeport of the Joint Committee of the Legislative 
Council and Assembly. That Report sets forth 
that the future of the growing population of the 
Island is a matter of grave solicitude; that, 
though the yield of the fisheries has increased, 
this has not been in proportion to the increase in 
the population; that it has been proved how 
much can be gained by a further development of 
mining and agriculture, the mining industry 
having been very profitable and the most 
prosperous of the labouring people being the 
cultivators of land in the vicinity of St. Johns 
where the conditions of fertility are far inferior to 
those in the interior and the Western side of the 
Island ; that, if a railway were made, large tracts 
in the interior might be turned to such good 
account for grazing purposes, the Colony might 
export cattle to England instead of importing 
cattle from Nova Scotia. To the valid reasons 
why a railway should be made is added the 



opposition to a Railway, 43 

curious fact tliat this Colony is the only one of 
like importance wherein no railway exists. 

The passage of an Act to make this railway 
did not end the opposition to the project. I was 
surprised to find men of intelligence and position 
disapproving of the railway and speaking with 
approval of the attack made by some excited 
women on the Surveyors. Looking over the 
files of the newspapers, I meet with many letters 
denouncing the whole matter as a dangerous 
innovation and treating this railway in the same 
terms with which railways were treated by 
English landowners and others when they were 
first introduced into England. The burden of 
the strain is, what was good enough for our 
fathers is good enough for us ; that, if improve- 
ments are required they will come naturally in 
due course of time without any special legis- 
lation or taxation being necessary. One of the 
extreme opponents of the railway clenches his 
argument by stating that no return has yet been 
obtained for the money expended in making a 
preliminary survey. With such a man the gods 
would argue in vain. An explanation of much 
that was said and done on this subject which 
seemed to me incomprehensible, occurs in a 
number of the Tatriot and Terra Nova Herald, 
There it is written that " the sole opposition to 



44 England^ s Oldest Colony. 

tlie E/ailroad has been created in the capital with 
the view of getting up a party cry. All the old 
shibboleths are dead. Party itself is dead or 
dying; and something mii8t be started to give 
animation to the next General Electioii, and afford 
some chance for new aspirants to Legislative 
honours to become lawmakers." There is more 
method in the madness of such a party cry than 
is obvious at first sight. It is certain that the 
railway will not be finished for some years and, 
whilst under construction nothing will be so 
apparent as the fact of its cost. Even when 
finished, it will differ from nearly every railway 
if it should prove immediately remunerative. 
Thus the opponents will be able to refer to their 
opposition to it as to a fulfilled prophecy and 
inay even succeed in getting people to elect them 
to the Legislature in order that they may cure 
the mischief which they have foretold. Mean- 
time, despite covert and open opposition the 
railway policy of Sir William Whiteway and 
the Administration of which he is the head, has 
triumphed. 

This spring the Government entered into a 
contract, which has been sanctioned by the 
Legislature for the construction of a narrow- 
guage line of three feet six inches from St. Johns 
to Hall's Bay on the north-east coast, the distance 



Newspaper Press, 45 

being about 340 miles. Brancbes are to run to 
Harbour Grace and Brigus. At a future day a 
branch may be made as far as St. George's Bay on 
the western shore. A New York Syndicate has 
undertaken the construction and working of the 
Hue, the line to be constructed within five years and 
worked by the Company — conditionally on receiv- 
ing an annual subsidy of $180,000 for 35 years and 
a grant of land, consisting of every alternate sec- 
tion one mile long and eight miles deep along the 
line of railway. Unless the calculations made 
should prove entirely misleading the Newfound- 
land Railway Company ought to be profitable to 
its founders and beueficial to the Island in which 
it will supply intercommunication by rail. 

I should convey an erroneous impression if the 
foregoing remarks about the railway led any 
reader to suppose that I have formed a low 
estimate of the Newspaper Press of Newfound- 
land. These journals contain foolish writing 
now and then, as is the case with journals in 
other places. "When the writing in them is the 
most extreme and severe in tone it is least easy 
to imagine that the writer is perfectly in earnest 
and that he is not intentionally resorting to 
exaggeration. Certainly it was with a feeling of 
amusement that I read in a number of The Neivs 
Letter^ to quote but a single instance out of 



46 England* s Oldest Colony, 

many, tliat certain figures respecting the public 
debt of the Colony ** show the hopeless incapacity 
of the present Government to rise superior to the 
vulgar hankering for official place and salary." 
Tlie strong language which is a character- 
istic of these newspapers, may be in perfect 
accord with the taste of their readers. In conse- 
quence of this habit, the writers express a great 
deal more than they really mean, having no in- 
tention, when they style a man a scoundrel who 
is robbing the public, to convey any other idea 
than that they disagree with his political 
opinions. Sixteen newspapers are published in 
the Colony ; my collection comprises thirteen of 
them. The oldest is the Royal Gazette^ estab- 
lished in 1807, and having the motto "Fear God: 
honour the king." It contains a good selection 
of news as well as the official documents which 
are not light or very interesting reading. The 
Neivs Letter, which was the youngest at the time 
I made my collection, is " devoted to the interests 
of the Liberal party in Newfoundland." The 
Patriot and Terra Nova Herald, which has been 
published for more than thirty years, prints its 
programme in a metrical and a prose form, the 
first being 

" Here shall the press the people's rights maintain, 
Una wed by influence and unbribed by gain ; 



Notes on Newspapers, 47 

Here patriot truth her glorious precepts draw. 
Pledged to religion, liberty and Law." 

The second being *' Be just and fear not. Let 
all the ends thou aim'st at be thy God's, thy 
country's and truth's." The importance of de- 
veloping the resources of the Island and the 
means for doing so are clearly apprehended and 
set forth by the conductors of this journal. The 
Evening Telegram is a sheet to which a writer 
signing himself " Au Reyoir " contributes letters 
opposing all improvements, whether they relate to 
sanitary arrangements or railway communication, 
disparaging the politicians and professional 
classes and eulogizing the merchants as " the old 
pioneers of the country" and holding them up as 
the only persons whose wishes and interests 
ought to be considered and advanced. In The 
Morning Chronicle the policy of considering the 
good of the people at large is skilfully advocated 
and pungent letters have appeared in reply to the 
tirades of "Au Revoir." The North Star is 
another of the journals which treat patriotism as 
synonymous with the well-being of the whole 
community. The Times, which has been in 
existence for upwards of a generation, takes as 
its motto " For the Queen, the Constitution and 
the people." The Neivfoundlander ; The Terra 
Nova Advocate; The Public Ledger, and The 



48 England's Oldest Colony, 

Temjperance Journal are otlier journals published 
in St. Jolins. At Harbour Grace, the next place 
in size to the capital, the people are enlightened 
and guided by the Standard, a large and well 
conducted sheet, while at two other " Outports," 
as all the towns save St. Johns are designated. 
The Twillingate Sun and The Garbonear Herald 
are quite as good newspapers as many published 
in the capital. 

Though the newspaper Press does credit to the 
Colony, yet the credit would be greater still if a 
larger percentage of the people were able to profit 
by any printed pages. According to the census 
of 1876, it appears that 20,758 children did not 
attend school and that 18,935 did, the figures for 
the corresponding cases in the census of 1869 
being 16,249 and 18,813. It is to be hoped that 
the next census will show more satisfactory results. 
The reports for 1879 of the Inspectors of Public 
Schools exhibit an attendance at school of 15,315. 
These Reports are from Mr. M. J. Kelly, 
Superintendent of the Roman Catholic Schools, 
of the Rev. G. S. Milligan and the Rev. Wilham 
Pilot, the former being Superintendent of the 
Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian, and 
the latter of the Church of England Schools. Mr. 
Kelly considers the schools under his supervision 
to be in a satisfactory state. Both Mr. Milligan 



Compulsory Education. 49 

and Mr. Pilot agree ia thinking that, till atten- 
dance is made compulsory, a large number of 
children will grow up ignorant of the rudiments 
of education. Mr. Milligan holds that, while public 
opinion is growing in favour of educating all the 
children, yet that many persons will not send 
their children to school unless compelled by law 
ta do so. He notes that the poorest parents are 
the most apathetic. He instances one case where 
the teacher was in fault ; saying that " he was 
industrious, but that his education was defective." 
Another entry is to the effect that " at Perry's 
Cove, the day not being fine and the teacher aged, 
school was not open." He adds that this worthy 
old man has since retired from a position for 
which old age had long unfitted him. Mr Pilot is 
emphatic in condemning the practice of employing 
incompetent teachers, taking care to point out 
that the remedy is to pay adequate salaries in 
order to ensure good service. Like Mr. Milligan, 
he bewails the apathy and indifference of parents 
respecting their children's education, rightly 
attributing it to the fact that the parents are too 
ignorant themselves to appreciate the advantage 
of knowledge. His opinion is that *' nothing short 
of compulsory attendance will bring about the 
consummation devoutly to be wished, viz., the 
general education of all." It is clear that the 

E 



50 England's Oldest Colony, 

existing arrangement as to education is but pro- 
vision al. Through its operation sectarian jealousy 
and strife have ceased. But, until all tlie children 
under twelve are obliged to attend school for a 
given time, it cannot be maintained that New- 
foundland enjoys all the benefits whicli flow from 
a comprehensive and thorough system of national 
education. 

Though the Island of Newfoundland is as large 
as England, the population numbers no more 
than 158,985 ; in Labrador which is united to it 
there are 2416 persons. In 1869 the total popu- 
lation was 146,536, so that the increase in New- 
foundland and Labrador between 1869 and 1^76 
was 14,836. Considering the nature and extent 
of the Island, the number of persons inhabiting it 
is absurdly small. The mass of the people find 
it hard to earn daily bread. Upwards of $100,000 
are expended annually in relieving the poor. The 
misfortune of the people consists in the fishery 
being their only means of livelihood and that 
they do not seem disposed to embrace any 
others. Indeed they look with suspicion upon 
any harvest except that of the sea. They have 
a saying that an acre of the sea is worth a 
thousand acres of land. 

It has been proved that the Island abounds in 
excellent timber, that there is grazing-ground 



Principal Imports. 5 1 

sufficient for rearing tliousands of cattle, that 
there is land enough to grow all the grain re- 
quired for home consumption and leave a large 
surplus for export. I have examined the Customs 
Eeturns for 1879 and I observe that the following 
articles, all of which might be produced in the 
Island, were imported to the extent specified : 
Flour 303,483 barrels; oatmeal 1884 barrels; 
meat and poultry to the value of $28,479 ; peas 
4445 barrels; salt 42,943 tons; timber 341 
tons ; potatoes 109,380 bushels ; other vegetables 
24,428 bushels ; hay and straw 596 tons ; shingles 
42,943 tons. These are some of the articles 
which ought to be produced in the Island and 
which might be exported in place of being im- 
ported. Among the curiosities of those returns 
is an entry among the exports of 27 gallons of 
Spanish red wine having been sent to Spain. 
This is a new version of sending coal to New- 
castle. 

If the Reformation had taken place at an earlier 
day and been universal, or had not the Church of 
Eome made a fish diet obligatory on many days 
in the year, it is doubtful whether the Newfound- 
land fisheries or those of the Cornish fisheries 
either, would have attained their present value. 
Next to the United Kingdom, the country to 
which Newfoundland exports the most is Brazil 

E 2 



52 



EnglancTs Oldest Colony, 



I subjoin tlie list whicli I have arranged in 
accordance witli the amounts exported to each : — 



Tb.e United Kingdom . 






. $2,067,636 


Brazil .... 




1,383,819 


Poitugal . . . , 




713,571 


Spain 




584,427 


The Dominion of Canada 




316,630 


United States of America 




268,018 


British West Indies 




231.848 


Italy . 






131,493 


Gibraltar 






84,840 


Hamburfr 






49,139 


French West Indies 






40,469 


Sicily .... 






12,012 


Sainte Pierre 






8,903 


Mauritius 






8,671 


Jersey , , . 






8,199 


Madeira 






7,101 


Prance 






2,148 



By arranging the imports in the order of values, 
it will be seen that several countries, to which the 
exports are the largest, send the smallest pro- 
portion of goods in return. 

The Dominion of Canada 
The United Kingdom . 
United States of America 
British West Indies 
Spain . 



Prench West Indies 

Portugal 

Jersey . 

Sicily . 

Hamburg 

Prance 



$2,258,671 

2,180,703 

2,140,345 

329,220 

172,704 

101,738 

20.980 

19,374 

11,417 

4,502 

605 



Four places, Brazil, Gibraltar, Madeira, Mauritius, 
to which the exports amount to $1,484,440 send 



Mines and Mining, 53 

nothing back to Newfoundland. The result is 
that the value of the total exports is $5,918,924, 
while that of the imports is $7,261,002. 

Among the exports are 28,405 tons of copper 
ore valued at $511,290 and 1112^ tons of regulus 
valued at $44,500. These are the results of 
mining at Betts Cove and Little Bay carried on 
by a company formed by Mr. Ellershausen of 
Nova Scotia. In the brief space of five years 
JSTewfoundland has risen to the sixth place among 
the copper-producing regions of the globe. Other 
minerals have been discovered in sufficient quanti- 
ties to justify their extraction ; these include gold 
and silver, nickel, lead and iron. Coal-beds of 
vast extent, though known to exist, have not yet 
been worked. It seems probable, however, that 
when the mineral deposits on the Island are 
systematically explored and 'made available it may 
become as famous and envied for its mines as for 
its fisheries. At present the merchants, who are 
the capitalists of ISTewfoundland, give their atten- 
tion to the fisheries and neglect ahke its mineral 
and agricultural resources. 

A company has been formed for prosecuting 
copper- mining on an extensive scale. It is styled 
the Newfoundland Consolidated Copper Mining 
Company and its originators are citizens of the 
United States, the head office being in New York. 



54 England^ s Oldest Colony, 

Mr. Ellershausen transferred to this company the 
properties over which he had controL Other 
properties have been acquired and the undertaking, 
as a whole, is gigantic. The capital is in keeping, 
being three milHon dollars. Should this company 
be as successful as its sanguine promoters antici- 
pate, a great impetus will be given to mining in 
Newfoundland. 

As the Island is peopled and if a railway be 
constructed to St. George's Bay, a question of in- 
ternational relations will have to be finally deter- 
mined. Between Newfoundland and the United 
States frequent disputes have arisen concerning 
the fisheries, but these are even less complicated 
and more easily settled than the chronic misun- 
derstanding with France on the same subject. 

The misunderstanding known as the Fortune 
Bay outrage has been dispelled by Great Britain 
paying 15,000Z. in full of all demands for compen- 
sation from the New England fishermen who were 
maltreated by the Newfoundlanders. Other dif- 
ferences of opinion as to the true interpretation of 
clauses in the Treaty of Washington may yet be 
harmonized by diplomacy. That treaty is as note- 
worthy as other similar documents for the vagueness 
of its terms. This appears to be the great object of 
diplomatists. Just as plumbers seem to take care 
to leave some damaged pipes when they are called 



French Claims, 55 

in to put tlie water supply to a house in good order 
and do so with the hope of being soon summoned 
to repair the mischief they have wrought, so diplo- 
matists continue to leave treaties in such a con- 
dition that controversy arises as to their precise 
purport and fresh negotiations have to be under- 
taken with a view to make their terms intelligible 
and satisfactory to the persons affected. The treaty 
of Utrecht, which defines the rights of the French 
at the coast of Newfoundland, might be regarded 
as an exception to the rule, as it is as clear as any 
instrument of the kind. Yet it has been held by 
the French to confer rights which do not seem to 
have occurred to its framers. 

By that treaty the French enjoy the right, con- 
firmed by subsequent treaties, of fishing off the 
west coast of Newfoundland and of drying fish on 
the shore, concurrently with the subjects of the 
British Sovereign. This has been interpreted by 
French diplomatists to mean an exclusive right 
both to the fishery and to the occupation of the 
western shore. As Lord Palmerston observed, 
in a masterly despatch on the subject to Count 
Sebastiani in 1838, a concurrent right of en- 
joyment cannot possibly mean an exclusive right 
to a particular privilege ; he added, " the claim 
put forward on the part of France is founded 
simply upon inference, and upon an assnmed in- 



56 England's Oldest Colony, 

terprotation of words." Yet the Frencli liave 
protested against mining operations on the plea 
that the land must be reserved for their exclusive 
use. The district about which this dispute exists 
is the favourite resort of persons who have im- 
perative reasons for disliking the police and who 
like this region because policemen are unknown in 
it. The points at issue between France and this 
country concerning Kewfoundland become more 
embarrassing as time passes away. In such a 
case as this, delay is unquestionably dangerous. 
The sooner a clear and definite understanding is 
arrived at the better for all parties. By a system 
of bounties the French have given their fishermen 
a practical monopoly of fishing on the Banks of 
Newfoundland ; not a single British vessel being 
able to compete with them. This they are free to 
do, but no valid authority has yet been shown by 
them for excluding British subjects from British 
soil. "When the matter is again dealt with, it 
would be wise if the statesmen of Newfoundland 
were represented on any commission which might 
be empowered to act ; the question immediately 
concerns them and it is one with which they are 
intimately acquainted. 

I have shown how much there is in Newfound- 
land to attract and enrich the woodman, the 
farmer and the miner, in addition to the original 



Fish^ Game and Dogs, 57 

attraction which, lias made it tlie great home of 
fishermen. It may yet be numbered among the spots 
to which invahds liasten in order to regain health 
by drinking mineral water. There are many 
mineral springs in the Island which only require 
puffing to be popular. A chalybeate spring at 
Logie Bay, near St. Johns, resembles the spring 
at Bath which used to be most in request when 
that place was the fashionable resort for all sorts 
and conditions of invalids. The seeker after sport 
will there find as good opportunities of gratifying 
his taste as he can in the hunting-grounds of the 
Far West. The rivers abound in salmon, the 
inland lakes teem with trout; cariboo are still 
numerous and bears are often met with. 
Feathered game are plentiful. Anj^one who desires 
to combine sport with profit can hunt wolves. 
Under an Act of the Legislature a reward of 
$12 is paid for the head of every wolf killed. 
Mosquitoes and other insects are even greater 
plagues than wolves, causing more annoyance and 
being less easily exterminated. On the other 
hand, the Island enjoys immunity from frogs, 
toads, lizards and all venomous reptiles. It has 
long been noted for its dogs. In the earlier days of 
its history there is frequent mention of wild cats 
and hawks being brought from Newfoundland to 
England. Later the Newfoundland dog grew into 



58 England's Oldest Colony, 

repute and was deservedly prized. When tW 
Prince of Wales visited the Island in 1861 a 
splendid dog of pure breed was presented to him 
which he appropriately named Cabot. The 
Islanders cannot make many such gifts now. They 
have innumerable dogs, but most of them are 
mongrels which no rational person would accept 
as a gift. 

The resources of ''England's Oldest Colony" 
are greater ; its soil and climate are far better ; 
its natural attractions are more varied, than is 
commonly supposed. Among these I do not 
number the pubhc debt of $1,240,990, bearing 
interest at the moderate rate of 4 per cent. Yet 
no independent state or self-governing colony 
has a debt which has been incurred for more 
useful objects and which imposes so light and 
temporary a burden upon the community. The 
bonds, which were issued at par, are at a premium. 
In the statement of accounts for last year, the 
Auditor remarks that the public debt of the Colony 
is " held solely by the people of Newfoundland." 
The Islanders ought to be prouder of this fact 
than of the many advantages which Nature has 
placed within their reach. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE LAND OF THE " BLUE NOSES." 

The Eoyal Province of Nova Scotia, as its in- 
liabitants proudly style it, is familiar to readers of 
" Sam Slick " as the home of " the Blue Noses." 
The late Mr. Justice Haliburton, the author of 
" Sam Slick," was a member of the House of 
Assembly of Nova Scotia when a young man, and 
he died, at an advanced age, a member of the 
Parliament of the United Kingdom. He did not 
object to the nickname which the Yankees had 
given to his fellow-countrymen ; on the contrary 
he thought it an honour to be " a Blue Nose." 
One of the most accomplished and estimable of 
New England poets has embalmed in harmonious 
verse a sad and romantic episode in Nova Scotia's 
early history. Indeed, the legendary history of 
this Province has received a circulation through 
Mr. Longfellow's " Evangeline " far wider 
than that of its authentic and more prosaic 
records. 



6o The Land of the " Blue Noses ^ 

Sir William Alexander, the founder of Nova 
Scotia, was accounted a good poet in his day. His 
verses pleased James the First, who called him 
" my philosophical poet." He was a consummate 
courtier; he excelled in the art of persuading 
Princes to confer upon him substantial tokens of 
their favour. The Province of Nova Scotia was a 
gift to him from James the First. His son 
Charles made the further grant of the power to 
create Baronets to the number of 150 as a means 
of promoting the settlement of the Province. 
Each Baronet was to acquire 6000 acres of land 
in return for a payment of 150Z. A special 
privilege, which they much valued and which 
some of their contemporaries deservedly ridiculed, 
was to wear a yellow ribbon round their necks 
from which hung the badge of their order. This 
excited the jealously of the Irish and English 
Baronets who petitioned that they, too, might dis- 
play a similar token of their rank. Sir William 
Alexander did not find his Province or his order 
of Baronets so remunerative as the permission to 
coin base money. With the wealth thus acquired 
he built himself a fine house at Stirling. Sir 
Wilham's wealth wonld have been greater still if 
the people of Scotland would have consented to 
adopt in their churches the Metrical version of 
the Psalms made by James the First and re- 



The Founder of Nova Scotia, 6 1 

vised by him. Charles the First ordered that 
the version should be used, but the people ob- 
jecting to it as decidedly as they did to Laud's 
Prayer Book, the monopoly of printing that version 
for thirty-one years, conferred upon Sir William 
Alexander, did not profit the '' philosophical poet." 
He died bearino: the title of Earl of Stirlins^ 
without having effected anything else for Nova 
Scotia than to give it a name. Through great 
tribulation that Province has slowly attained its 
present condition as the chief among the Maritime 
Provinces of the Dominion of Canada. 

When the Confederation of Canada was achieved 
in 1867, a strong protest was made by ISTova Sco- 
tians against becoming members of the Dominion. 
The Hon. Joseph Howe, the soul and leader of 
the malcontents visited England and enlisted Mr. 
Bright' s powerful advocacy in appealing to Par- 
liament to detach Kova Scotia from the new Con- 
federation. The attempt- failed ; Mr. Howe was 
pacified, after what were called " better terms " 
had been offered to the Province and then he 
accepted oflBce in the G-overnment of the Do- 
minion. The controversy'' as to the advantage of 
Confederation has not yet lost all bitterness, or 
ceased to excite and divide the people of this 
Province. Superadded to it is the question of 
that *' National Policy" which Sir John Macdonald 



62 The Land of the " Blue Noses^ 

devised and to whicli tlie Dominion Parliament 
has given effect at the instance of his Administra- 
tion. " National Policy " is the old-fashioned 
" Protection to native industry" under a new 
form and with a new name. Some Nova Scotians 
declare that the evils of Confederation have been 
intensified by the effects of protection. Others 
are of opinion that the severe depression felt in 
business circles during the last few years is due 
to general causes affecting the entire commercial 
world. Por six or seven years after Confedera- 
tion, the Province enjoyed extraordinary pros- 
perity. Large sums were then expended in con- 
structing railways, cutting canals, erecting public 
buildings throughout the Dominion, and this 
Province shared in the business activity which 
ensued when so much borrowed capital was put 
into circulation. Merchants and others lived up 
to their means ; sometimes they lived beyond them 
in the belief that the . gains of \hQ future would 
more than meet any liability they might incur, 
and thus, when the day of reckoning suddenly and 
unexpectedly arrived, the reaction was the more 
disastrous because the expansion had been so 
extreme. It is a gross blunder to blame Con- 
federation for this. Nor would it be discreet to 
pronounce that the new panacea for making 
everybody rich and contented has utterly failed. 



The ^^ National Policy^ 63 

A protective policy ouglit to succeed for a time, 
and it will continue popular so long as tlie people 
at large are satisfied to pay tlie price. An indi- 
vidual who is rich enough can have any luxury 
which money will buy. Protection is a luxury 
which only a very wealthy or a very self-denying 
nation can afford to pay for. As yet the influence 
of the " National " or protective policy of Canada 
has had so slight an effect in this Province that 
although the Nova Scotians rail against it, they 
are influenced by their fears rather than by their 
actnal experience. 

The most doleful and dispiriting account which 
I received as to the position and prospects of 
Nova Scotia was supplied by a Virginian gentle- 
man, who played a leading part in the tragedy of 
secession and who has made his home in Halifax. 
His heart is in his native State but his money is 
invested in the capital of Nova Scotia. He assured 
me that the Nova Scotians had ceased to be loyal 
to the British Empire and would have no objec- 
tion to become citizens of the North American 
Republic. I failed to ascertain any ground for 
this conclusion; but I heard that, house property 
having fallen in value, this gentleman's invested 
capital has been reduced for the moment. Should 
land and houses rise in price he may change his 
views. Despite his dissatisfaction with the policy 



64 The Land of the ''Blue Noses ^ 

of the Government under wliicli lie had voluntarily 
chosen to live, he had no fault to find with the 
Province as a place of abode ; on the contrary, he 
praised both the soil and climate in strong terms. 
Natives of the country deplored the emigration 
from it of young men to the United States. Com- 
munication between Halifax and Boston in Mas- 
sachusetts is frequent and the journey can be made 
for a small outlay. The temptation is extreme for 
young Nova Scotians, who are dissatisfied with 
their home prospects, to proceed to New England in 
order to begin life there under conditions which 
they consider more favourable. They are influenced 
by the feeling which causes the country bumpkin 
to quit his quiet English village and hasten to 
London where he hopes to find the streets paved 
with gold. Many Nova Scotians learn by sad 
experience that, if they are better paid abroad, 
they must work harder and expend more than at 
home, and the numbers of the disenchanted and 
disappointed who return are said to balance the 
numbers who depart elate and over sanguine. 

Intelligent Nova Scotians whose opinions on 
obher subjects would have commanded my respect, 
spoke concerning the Canadian Pacific Railway 
with a recklessness which astonished me. They 
laboured under the delusion that the construction 
of the Railway would either ruin the Dominion or 



I 



'' Old Fossils r 65 

else that tlie operation of tlie railway would benefit 
the Western Provinces exclusively. If a citizen 
of New York were to use similar language in 
reference to the Union Pacific Railway, his hearers 
would naturally conclude that he had lost his wits. 
The truth is that Halifax will profit by a railway 
through Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
just as New York city has profited by the railway 
between that city and San Francisco. 

The evidence which I have collected leads me 
to the conclusion that the Nova Scotians are too 
ready to grumble and are deficient in a patriotic 
faith in the resources of Canada and in the 
capacity of her sons to develope them. In Halifax 
there are many men who are irreverently but not 
inaptly termed " old fossils." They have made 
enough money upon which to live in comfort. 
They have invested it in non-speculative securities 
yielding them a moderate return. They have 
adequate capital wherewith to embark in any enter- 
prise, but they lack the requisite courage for sup- 
porting novel undertakings with their money, even 
though the chance of doubling their capital and in- 
come by so doing may not be slight. These men 
are foremost in complaining of capital and energy 
being lacking to develope Nova Scotia's resources. 
It has been proved to demonstration that the gold 
fields are as rich and as safe investments as the 



66 The Land of the " Blue Noses'' 

coal pits from which adventurous native and 
Euglisli capitalists have derived large profits. 
The Nova Scotian capitalist hesitates to take 
shares in a gold-mine. When a gold-mine of 
undoubted richness is discovered and tested, it 
usually passes into the hands of a shrewd and 
enterprising United States capitalist, and when 
the Nova Scotians see him becoming rich by his 
venture they blame Confederation or the Govern- 
ment for marring the prosperity of their Province. 
After the discovery of gold in 1861 at Tangier 
Eiver, forty miles to the east of Halifax, there 
was an outburst of foolish speculation. When 
over-cautious men lose their heads, they are fre- 
quently guilty of inconceivable follies. Experience 
then taught the lesson that a gold-mine may ab- 
sorb more of the precious metal than it can ever 
yield, and that it is necessary to exercise judg- 
ment in choosing a mine and skill in working it. 
The ISTova Scotians seem disposed to act like a 
boy who, having burned his fingers, refuses ever 
after to warm his hands at the fire. Instead of 
profiting, in a rational way, by what has occurred, 
their prevailing feeling now is to eschew mining 
altogether and let strangers step in and carry off 
the golden prizes. 

From the year that the extraction of gold began 
down to the present time, the total yield has been 



Gold' Mines, 67 

397,372 ounces. Last year 14,000 ounces were 
returned. The average earning of each miner 
has exceeded $600 annually ; the earning last 
year exceeded $700. These figures contrast 
most favourably with returns from other regions 
of this Continent where gold-mining is a re- 
munerative industry. Yet the room for improve- 
ment here is very great. The waste in extracting 
gold is enormous* It is indisputable that a yield 
of five pennyweights per ton is ample for paying 
the miner who uses the most improved machinery 
and follows the most modern processes. Gold- 
mines in Brazil and Australia, where the return 
is at that rate, pay large profits, yet in Nova 
* Scotia the complaint is that no profit can be 
obtained unless the quartz yield ten pennyweights 
per ton, seven being a common yield and seven 
being found inadequate for profitable working. 

Mr. Selwyn, the Director of the Geological 
Survey of Canada who, for sixteen years before 
filling that office, filled an analogous one in Vic- 
toria, has shown how close are many of the 
geological resemblances between the Provinces of 
Victoria and Nova Scotia. He also shows how 
wasteful the system of mining is in the latter 
Province, many mines there wasting as much as 
would suffice to return dividends of 10 per cent. 
in Victoria, and the machinery in the Australian 

P 2 



68 The Land of the '' Blue Noses,'' 

mines doing nearly double as much work as that 
employed in the Nova Scotian. It is clear that 
skill and proper machinery are lacking. Were 
the Nova Scotian gold-mines properly developed 
they would take rank among the most remunera- 
tive, favourite and stable investments of the 
Province. The gold-bearing region of Nova 
Scotia extends over 3000 square miles. 

Coal and Iron are two products of which Nova 
Scotia possesses an abundance. The capital in- 
vested in coal winning is estimated at$12,000,000 ; 
the number of pits worked is twenty-five. Pictou, 
which is the principal town in the coal district, is 
next in importance to Halifax. It is picturesquely ^ 
situated on a point jutting into a land-locked 
harbour wherein hundreds of vessels can be con- 
veniently moored. The passage from Northum- 
berland Straits into the harbour is only 200 
yards across at the entrance. On either side the 
eye rests upon a stretch of fine land dotted with 
trees and divided into farms. The town of 
Pictou was founded in 1767 by some emigrants 
from Philadelphia. Five years afterwards thirty 
families arrived from the Scottish Highlands with 
the object of establishing a settlement, but, being 
unable to agree with the first comers as to the 
right of ownership in the land, they went else- 
where. Other families from Scotland arrived 



Nova Scotian Collieries, 69 

here at a later day, and tlie majority of tlie people 
still bear Scottish names and speak with the 
accent of their forefathers. The demand for 
Nova Scotian coal is greater now than in former 
years. The trade with the United States, which 
was almost extinct for a time, has revived again. 
I saw three United States vessels taking in cargoes, 
a sight which, as I was informed, was both un- 
usual and welcome. When the Reciprocity Treaty 
was in force, Nova Scotian coal was chiefly ex- 
ported to the United States ; since the imposition 
of a heavy import duty, that market has ceased 
to be the principal one. The coal-owners com- 
plain that the present Canadian tariff does not 
give them that monopoly of supplying the Western 
Provinces of the Dominion which they expected 
to have under the *' National policy." The citizens 
of Ontario still buy coal imported from the United 
States, while the citizens of New England still 
buy coal imported from Nova Scotia. A protective 
tariff cannot always subserve the design of its 
framers either by diverting all trade into a 
particular channel or in diffusing universal happi- 
ness. 

A short ride from South Pictou brings the 
traveller to New Glasgow, which resembles the 
ancient and flourishing city on the banks of the 
Clyde in being over-hung with smoke. Not far 



yo The Land of the " Blue Noses'* 

distant are the Albion pits, from wbicli large 
quantities of coal have been taken for half a 
century, and which are expected to continue 
productive for many years to come. The seam 
there is thirty feet thick. At New Glasgow there 
are iron foundries, tanneries, a pottery and ship- 
building yards. The largest Nova Scotian ships 
have been built here. This industry was not 
brisk at the time of my visit ; I saw only one 
ship on the stocks. The demand for wooden 
vessels is falling off and, if the ship-builders here 
would regain their supremacy, they must build 
iron ships. They have so many facilities for so 
doing that, by taking due advantage of them, the 
iron vessels of Glasgow in Nova Scotia might be 
in as great request as those of Glasgow in Old 
Scotland. The Island of Cape Breton, another 
part of this Province wherein coal abounds, is 
about a mile from the mainland, being separated 
from it by the Gut of Canso. The scenery on 
this island, which attracts tourists quite as much 
as the coal-fields attract capitalists, is on a very 
grand scale. Readers of Horace Walpole's 
writings will remember an amusing reference to 
this Island. Walpole asserts that the Duke of 
Newcastle, the Prime Minister at the time, having 
learnt to his surprise that Cape Breton was an 
Island, he could not rest till he had communi- 



Scenery and Climate, *ji 

cated tlie extraordinary fact to every member of 
the Cabinet. 

From Cape Breton at tbe north to Yarmouth 
at the south, this Province covers an area of 
nearly 22,000 square miles, out of which 3000 
square miles are covered with lakes. It has a 
coast-line of 1200 miles and a large number of 
excellent harbours. Within the limits of the 
Province, which is about 300 miles long by from 
100 to 50 in breadth, there are great varieties of 
soil and climate ; the temperature is &^ higher in 
the western than in the eastern Counties. It has 
plenty of shaggy wood, but no mountains like 
those in Old Scotia. The height of the hills does 
not exceed 1000 feet. The richest and most 
picturesque part of the Province is the broad 
valley between Windsor and Annapolis, where the 
Acadians passed an existence which resembles 
the visions of the golden age. 

The historian of Nova Scotia, depicting their 
state in 1755, tells how these Acadians, to the 
number of 18,000 tilled the fields, reaped crops, 
and reared cattle and poultry in this happy 
valley. Their ordinary drink was beer or cyder. 
They clad themselves in garments spun from the 
flax which they cultivated or from the fleece of 
their sheep. They rarely went to law, accepting 
the decision of the elders in cases of dispute. 



72 The Land of the " Blue Noses,** 

There was no permanent destitution among them, 
the unfortunate being succoured by those richer 
in the world's goods. Thej li\'ed as a large and 
happy family ; early marriages were the rule and 
the vices of great cities were unknown. The 
picture of these people before their expulsion 
makes their fate seem the more pitiful; but it 
may be that the picture is too highly coloured 
and that the Annapolis Yalloy has never been the 
scene of an earthly paradise. It is certainly a 
pleasant and fruitful land where the inhabitants 
have every reason to enjoy life. The soil is very 
fertile and admirably adapted for the growth of 
fruit trees. Indeed, the apples grown in the 
Annapolis Valley are very fine and are highly 
prized by good judges. When the apple trees 
are in blossom the prospect resembles that 
between Heidelberg and Frankfort in the spring 
time when the cherry trees are in blossom. It is 
a peculiarity . of this Province to offer great 
variety of scenery and of means of livelihood. 
The farmer, gardener, miner and fisherman can 
all find profitable employment. The fisheries 
are very valuable ; the fish caught comprise cod, 
mackerel, shad, hake, herring and salmon ; the 
annual return from the fisheries is not much under 
a million sterling. Twenty thousand men are 
occupied in fishing. The land is specially well 



The Capital of Nova Scotia, 73 

suited for tlie culture of sucli vegetables as pota- 
toes and turnips, and of such grains as wheat, 
barley, oats, rye, buckwheat and maize. The 
number of acres of good land is estimated at 
10,000,000. Of these less than 2,000,000 are 
under cultivation. This large, fertile and salu- 
brious Province, wherein there is ample scope for 
millions of people, has less than 400,000 in- 
habitants. 

Halifax is the capital of ISTova Scotia. It has 
many natural advantages among which beauty of 
situation is the most striking and that of 
possessing the finest harbour on the coast is the 
most useful. It was founded on the 25th July 
1749. Not till the close of the American 
revolutionary war did it secure a large acces- 
sion of citizens. Then, however, it became a 
refuge for the United Empire Loyalists who 
abandoned or were expelled from their homes in 
the United States. These men displayed great 
vigour and fortitude in promoting the interests 
of this Province. They gave an impetus to the 
capital which it has not quite lost or which, if 
lost is owing to the accident of their descendants 
not inheriting all their virtues and all their 
talents. My opinion is that the sluggishness of 
the generation now passing away will give place 
to greater energy in the generation which is 



74 The Land of the " Blue Noses ^ 

growing up and that the new comers will revive 
the best traditions of Nova Scotia bj working as 
strenuously to make it an ornament- to the 
Dominion as their forefathers did to render it a 
model Province. 

The capital of Nova Scotia is the only place in 
the Dominion where a British garrison is main- 
tained. It is the only city on the North 
American Continent where a Government dock- 
yard is kept up by the United Kingdom. The 
dockyard covers fourteen acres. Men-of-war are 
always to be seen in the harbour, soldiers of all 
arms are to be seen in the streets and these 
things give liveliness to the scene. The citizens 
have sometimes reason to regret that soldiers are 
stationed here. When a discontented private de- 
termines to do the utmost mischief with the least 
suffering to himself, he smashes the costly plate- 
glass windows in the principal shops. I once 
passed along a street where this wanton destruc- 
tion of property was perpetrated so quickly that 
no one could prevent it. The shopkeeper would 
get no compensation if the glass were uninsured. 
The soldier would probably be imprisoned for a 
time and then dismissed the service. However 
unwelcome the presence of the troops may some- 
times be, I am sure that a proposal to withdraw 
them altogether would not please everybody. As 



Halifax Hospitality, 75 

a garrison town Halifax lias many charms for 
strangers, especially for citizens of tlie Unitad 
States. Of late years many of these citizens 
spend the summer months here, the climate at 
that season being excellent and the sea-bathing 
being all that can be desired. If a large and 
well-appointed hotel were built at or near to the 
lovely North West Arm, which is the rural part 
of Halifax and where many charming villas are 
built, the influx of strangers would be greater 
than ever. The Halifax Hotel, though good and 
comfortable, does not meet the requirements of 
exacting visitors from the United States. Al- 
though the hotels are disappointing, no fault can 
be found with the Halifax Club. It is admirably 
managed. The building is commodious and the 
stranger who, like myself, is honoured by being 
temporarily allowed to use it, finds his stay in 
Halifax rendered far more agreeable, while his 
regret at leaving it is far more keen. What 
Marryat wrote in Teter Simple is still true : " All 
sailors agree in asserting that Halifax is one of 
the most delightful ports in which a ship can 
anchor. Everybody is hospitable, cheerful, and 
willing to amuse and be amused." 

The Capital of Nova Scotia is not only a splendid 
port for commerce, but it is also one of the strongest 
fortified places in the world. The Duke of Kent, 



"j^ The Land of the '* Blue Noses" 

the father of the Queen, planned the Citadel and 
laid its foundations. There is a belief that tlie 
ground upon which the Citadel stands is rich, in 
gold quartz. If this be well founded, then tlie 
defenders of the Citadel have a twofold treasure 
to guard. The fortifications on the islands in 
the Bay are so well planned and executed that a 
hostile attack upon the city may be regarded 
with equanimity, because it can be repelled with 
certainty. Through the courtesy of Colonel 
Dray son, an officer of large experience and multi- 
farious accomplishments who was in command of 
the artillery at the time of my visit, 1 visited 
the fortifications and was permitted to inspect 
them in detail. Nothing that the science of war 
could suggest in the way of defence has been 
overlooked in their arrangement or neglected in 
their supervision. Everything is in perfect order 
and available at any moment. Should an enemy 
attack them, he will have a painfully warm re- 
ception and he will egregionsly err if he should 
count upon finding the defenders napping. Visi- 
tors from the United States are shown whatever 
they want to see and they leave the place with 
the conviction that, if the hotels are not perfect, 
the fortifications are of the first class. 

The Provincial Legislature meets in Halifax. 
Close to the building where the Legislators 



Governor Archibald, 77 

assemble is a large building containing tlie 
Government offices, tlie Post office, the City 
Library and the Provincial Museum, tbe latter 
being ricli in the antiquities, Indian relics and 
mineral products of tlie Province. I ought not 
to omit to mention with well- deserved praise the 
public garden, which is not only extensive and 
stocked with curious plants, but which is kept 
with as much care as it is laid out with taste. Nor 
should I conclude without writing a few sentences 
in eulogy of the present Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. 
Archibald, who occupies an official residence 
which has a gloomy look, but which is a com- 
modious and most agreeable house to live in. 
Mr. Archibald is a Nova Scotian and his ambition 
is centred in advancing: the interest of his native 
Province. He has had long and varied ex-> 
perience of public life and he has played his part 
in it most admirably. He filled the office of 
Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba at a crisis in 
the history of that far western member of the 
Dominion, and he there displayed great adminis- 
trative ability, solving the difficult problem of 
reconciling the Indians to their new Canadian 
x'ulers and concluding treaties with them which 
have proved as just to them as they have been 
serviceable to Canada. If his fellow-countrymen 
in Nova Scotia were imbued with his patriotic 



yS The Land of the *' Blue Noses'* 

spirit r.nd were endowed witli bis capacity for 
dealing witli problems in public affairs, tlie 
progress of their fine Province would be even 
more rapid and gratifying in tlie future than it lias 
been in the past. That the " Royal Province " 
has a great future I firmly believe. That " the 
Blue ISToses " have great opportunities as well as 
honourable traditions is quite certain. Their 
land offers many inducements to the capitalist 
and it is a tempting home for the emigrant. 
The capitalist, the mining engineer, the agri- 
culturist, the sportsman and the emigrant can all 
find within the ample and untenanted limits of 
Nova Scotia, an incomparable field wherein to 
realize the fondest desires of their hearts. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE PEOVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 

When St. John, tlie chief city of ISTew Brunswick, 
was almost entirely destroyed by fire on the 20th 
of June, 1877, the loss sustained was greater 
proportionately than that caused by the great fire 
at Chicago six years previously. About 13,000 
New Brunswickers were then rendered homeless ; 
1612 houses, covering an area of 200 acres, were 
destroyed in the brief space of nine hours ; the 
loss of property was estimated at $27,000,000. 
English philanthropists showed their usual and 
laudable alacrity in aiding the sufferers. Some 
of them also displayed discreditable ignorance 
about the situation of St. John and the nation- 
ality of its inhabitants. T remember an appeal 
earnestly made by one of them to the effect that 
the sad occasion vv^as an admirable opportunity, 
not only for succouring the needy, but also for 
manifesting brotherly love and charity towards 



8o The P7^ovince of New Brunswick, 

the citizens of the United States. Unfortunately, 
this is no isolated example of geographical igno- 
rance. Indeed, when Cobden expressed his 
opinion that young Englishmen should be in- 
structed in the history of Chicago, he might have 
added that they would be all the better for 
obtaining precise knowledge of the history and 
geography of Canada. This knowledge would 
prove quite as useful to them as that minute and 
exclusive acquaintance with Grecian history and 
literature which he assumed them to possess and 
which, as an intellectual possession, he may have 
undervalued. 

It is true that the people of New Brunswick 
are closely allied in race to their neighbours across 
the border. Many of the oldest and most 
respected New Brunswick families are descended 
from the Loyalists who were driven from the 
United States because they pertinaciously avowed 
their predilection for an ideal British Empire of 
which the North American Continent should 
form a part. No Province of the Dominion of 
Canada is less Yankee in sentiment than 
New Brunswick which is conterminous on the 
south-west with the State of Maine. Its inhabi- 
tants do not seem to have forgotten how the 
State of Maine was aggrandized at the expense of 
their Province in 1842, owing to what they 



The Piiritafts and New Brunswick. 8 1 

believe to have been the sharp practice of Daniel 
Webster, then Secretary of State in Mr. Tyler's 
Administration. 

The Puritans of Massachusetts played a curious 
part in the early history of what is now New 
Brunswick but was then called Acadia. John 
Winthrop, then Grovernor of Massachusetts, 
assented to a request that New England ships 
and men should be employed in helping 
Latour, who held the fort which stood on the 
site of the principal city in the Province and who 
refused to surrender it, and resign his commission 
of Lieutenant- General to D'Aulnay whom the 
King of France had sent to supersede him. The 
assistance rendered by the New Englanders 
proving effectual, D'Aulnay had to retire dis- 
comfited. This happened in 1643. Two years 
afterwards DAulnay renewed the attack during 
Latour's absence. The wife of Latour then dis- 
played the heroic qualities which the Countess of 
Derby afterwards did during the war between the 
English Parliament and Charles the First. Again, 
D'Aulnay was repulsed. A third time he made 
the attempt and, on this occasion, he succeeded 
through bribery in getting a footing in the fort 
though vigorously opposed by Madame Latour at 
the head of fifty brave men. His revenge con- 
sisted in hanging the whole garrison before the 

G 



82 The P^'ovince of New Brunswick, 

ejes of the woman wlio liad manifested so much 
fortitude and bravery. The spectacle was more 
terrible to her than an assault of armed men ; she 
died of grief soon after. 

When D'Aulnay felt himself strong enough to 
assert his rights, he accused the Grovernment of 
Massachusetts with a breach of neutrality and 
demanded compensation. The latter replied that 
they had not directly interfered in the quarrel, 
having merely permitted Latour to hire ships and 
enlist men. The damages demanded were 8000/., 
vet the Commissioner who urgfed the claims of 
D'Aulnay said that if the Government acknow- 
ledged their guilt in the matter the damages 
might be reduced to a nominal amount. Ulti- 
mately the blame was transferred to Captain 
Hawkins and the volunteers who had taken part 
with Latour, and the Government consented " to 
send a small present to D'Aulnay in satisfaction 
of what Captain Hawkins and the others had 
done." Governor Winthrop in describing the 
transaction, enables us to understand that the 
" smartness " which is supposed to be a modern 
characteristic of New England was possessed and 
exercised by the early Puritans. The small 
present sent to D'Aulnay was " a very fair new 
sedan " which had been taken in the West Indies 
and presented to the Governor, which was 



Foundation of St. John. ^T) 

" worth forty or fifty pounds where it was made, 
but of no use to us."^ 

In 1650, Latour returned. D'Aulnay had died 
in the interval, leaving a widow who surrendered 
the fort to Latour and, three years afterwards, 
became his wife. Thus Latour not only regained 
possession of the fort but he became the husband 
of his rival's wife and lord of all his lands. This 
settlement occurred in 1653 ; in the following 
year it was abruptly terminated by Oliver Crom- 
well who sent a naval expedition against him 
with the result that he was ousted from office and 
Acadia was annexed to England. It was ceded 
to France again a few years later and it was 
re-acquired by England in 1745 ; a few years 
after this an English garrison under the com- 
mand of Colonel Moncton was established in the 
fort which, during a century, had been the 
subject of strife. A few settlers came hither 
from England in 1764; but the first settlement 
on a large scale and permanent basis was made 
by 5000 United Empire Loyalists who left the 
United States in 1783 and, on the 18th of May in 
that year, founded the city of St. John. Several 
years later there was an infiux of settlers from 
Ireland who have found their removal to the new 
country from the old one to be highly advan- 
* John Wintlirop's "l^ew England," vol. ii. p. 274. 
G 2 



84 The Province of New Brunswick, 

tageous. The least successful tillers of the soil 
appear to be the descendants of the Acadians 
who escaped expulsion from the country. Their 
farming is both slovenly and wasteful, consisting 
in exhausting a piece of land and then applying 
to the Government for a new piece whereon to 
recommence the same process. 

Many small colonies have settled in N'ew 
Brunswick and have prospered exceedingly. A 
small colony numbering 182 went thither from 
the North of England in 1837. The colonists 
had to fell trees before they could cultivate the 
land. According to a return compiled in the 
sixth year of their sojourn, the result of their 
labour was that they had taken from land 
originally covered with trees, 260 tons of hay and 
straw, and 1500 brshels of grain, potatoes and 
turnips. They appended to the return the fol- 
lowing remarks : "The climate of New Bruns- 
wick agrees well with the constitution of English- 
men ; the air is salubrious, and the water as pure 
and wholesome as any in the world. During the 
six years of our location there have occurred but 
two deaths, while there have been thirty-nine 
births without the presence of medical aid. Six 
years' experience have convinced us that not- 
withstanding the privations to which new settlers 
are exposed, diligence and perseverance must 



New Denmark, 85 

ensure success." In 1842. an attempt was made 
to found a small colony of Irish people where 
teetotal principles would be rigorously practised. 
The experiment was successful beyond expecta- 
tion. The colony, including women and children, 
numbered 101. Thirty male members of it are 
credited at the end of the first year with having 
gathered from a spot, which had been a dense 
forest till they cleared it, 7276 bushels of grain, 
potatoes and turnips. Their labour had been 
rewarded with a total return, in crops and per- 
manent improvements, to the value of 2000Z. 

Quite as interesting and significant as any of the 
foregoing examples is that of the Danish colony 
established within the last ten years about eight 
miles from G-rand Falls in the western part of the 
Province. This place, formerly called Hellerup, 
is now known as New Denmark. There it was 
that, in the year 1872, thirty-six Danes began to 
cut down the primeval forest. The toil was 
harder than they had counted upon, while the 
difficulties against which they contended seemed 
so great as to dishearten them. But they per- 
severed and they have now no reason to complain. 
Where trees covered the ground a few years ago, 
is now a tract of cleared land extending over 
3000 acres and yielding large crops. The colony 
has grown from 36 to 500 persons and it is 



S6 The Province of New Brunszvick, 



being recruited by frequent arrivals; as many 
as 120 immigrants arrived there from Denmark 
in 1879. The extent of the settlement is such 
that there are thirty- six miles of road running 
through it. The people are frugal and indus- 
trious, and are growing rich, because they have 
an annual surplus in excess of their own require- 
ments. A curious circumstance is that, whereas 
the Danes who arrived here were Lutherans, they 
adopted the service of the Church of England in 
the church which they built for themselves. 

All the facts which I have gleaned from official 
papers as to the prosperity of the JSTew Brunswick 
farmers were verified in conversation with those 
whom I questioned as to their condition. They 
have many advantages over farmers in the Far 
West. The land yields as good a return, while 
the price obtained for the produce is higher owing 
to the proximity of a market. They have not to 
pay so much for what they buy, as the farmers 
must do who are far removed from the sea-board, 
while they receive more for what they have to sell 
than the farmers can do whose crops have to be 
carried to market hundreds of miles by rail. The 
area of the Province is 27,332 square miles, being 
greater than that of the Kingdoms of Belgium 
and Holland combined. Thirteen million of acres 
are available for cultivation. It is estimated that 



The St. JoJm River, ^j 

tlie land can support a population numbering 
four millions and a half. The actual population 
does not much exceed three hundred thousand! 

The St. John River is the most notable fact in 
the Province of K"ew Brunswick. It is a noble 
stream, affording, with its tributaries, 1300 miles 
of navigable waters, draining a region covering 
17,000,000 acres, thereof 9,000,000 are within the 
Province, 2,000,000 in the Province of Quebec, 
and 6,000,000 in the State of Maine. The valley 
through which it flows is very beautiful, the 
scenery being quite as attractive as at the most 
lovely parts of the Hudson. The Indians gave it 
the name " Looshtook " because they were struck 
with its length, the word meaning " Long Eiver." 
It winds through the Province for a distance of 
250 miles ; as the Province is 190 miles long by 
140 broad, it is obvious that the St. John Eiver 
is a meandering stream. At the upper part of 
the stream are Grand Falls where the water 
descends 70 feet perpendicularly. Where it 
enters the harbour at the city of St. John another 
fall of a singular kind attracts the notice of 
strangers. When the tide is out and the water 
low, the water descends 17 feet. At high water, 
on the contrary, the fall, if I may thus phrase it,, 
is in the opposite direction, the tide rising so high 
as to cause rapids up stream. I passed over the 



88 The Province of New B7nmswick, 

spot in a steamer during the twenty minutes this 
can be done when the tide is at its height, and I 
could scarcely realize that the spot was the same 
as that at which I had seen tlie river dashing 
down the rocks in a sheet of foam. 

For some distance above the city of St. John 
the river is very wide and is studded with wooded 
islands. The view on either side is varied and most 
attractive over the whole eighty-six miles which 
intervene between that city and Fredericton, the 
Capital of the Province. The Lieutenant-Governor 
occupies an official residence at Fredericton which 
is imposing in appearance but which has a serious 
defect, judging from the statement which Dr. 
Botsford, a physician of St. John, made in a 
paper read before the Convention at Ottawa of 
the Canada Medical Association. Dr. Botsford 
said that Government House, which cost $100,000 
to erect and from $5000 to $8000 annually to 
maintain, was so unhealthy that the persons who 
lived there did so at their peril. The sudden 
death of \hQ late Lieutenant-Governor and the ill- 
health of the present one were attributable, in 
his opinion, to the seivage gas which pervades the 
edifice. It is clear, then, that the Governor of 
this Province runs quite as much risk as the 
leader of a forlorn hope. Let me hope, however, 
that Government House will be converted into a 



Churches in Frederidon, 89 

place, in which to enjoy life, from one in whicli to 
risk and lose it. A house of meeting for the 
Provincial Legislature is the most recent public 
building in Fredericton ; it has been erected to 
replace the one destroyed by fire. The new 
House of Assembly is a substantial stone struc- 
ture. The Episcopal Cathedral is the building 
most conspicuous and best worthy of a visit. 
This Cathedral vies with that of Montreal as a 
fine example of Canadian ecclesiastical arcbitec- 
ture. The loyal citizens take pleasure in in- 
fo rmino: a strangfer that the altar-cloth is the one 
used at the coronation of William the Fourth. 
The Methodists have built a church with a spire 
still higher than that of the Cathedral and having 
a hand with an outstretched finger at the summit. 
Much of this structure is of wood, and it does not 
resist the action of the weather like the stone of 
which the Cathedral is built; thus, while the 
Methodists are entitled to boast of having the 
higher spire, they have also the obligation of 
paying largely to keep it in repair. The Uni- 
versity of ISTew Brunswick, founded in 1800, is at 
Fredericton. An annual scholarship of $60 is 
awarded to one boy from each county in the Pro- 
vince as well as free tuition, and fifty-six scholar- 
ships, entitling the holder to free tuition, are 
appropriated for competition to any youth in the 



90 The Pi^ovmce of New Brimswick, 

cities and counties. The Methodists founded a 
College at Sackville in 18G2 which is open to 
students of either sex, and the Eonian Catholics 
maintain St. Joseph's College at Memramcook. 

The Post office, and other public buildings in 
Fredericton are of red brick ; several stores and 
warehouses are built of the same material ; they 
have all a solid appearance and they belong to 
men who are enterprising and opulent. Trees line 
the streets and surround many of the buildings. 
Gardens are attached to most of the houses and 
the combination of foliage and flowers on every 
hand, and public buildings, shops 'and houses 
standing among gardens, produces a rural effect 
and makes the observer fancy that he is looking 
upon a large and finely-built country village. I 
have never seen a capital which seemed less like 
a city, or a city which had so pleasant reminders 
of the country. The river is half a mile wide 
here and the banks are too flat to be picturesque. 
Fish of various kinds abound iu the river. 
Sturgeon are specially plentiful. This fish used 
to be prized by royalty in England; it is n'ot 
considered a delicacy here. Yet great zeal is 
shown in catching sturgeon because the business 
is profitable. I visited a station where four men 
were engaged in fishing. They had caught twenty 
fish within twenty-four hours ; all these sturgeon 



Headquarters of the Intercolonial, 91 

were large, one of tliem measured six feet ia 
length. The price paid for each, irrespective of 
size, is fifty cents. I was told tliat, when tlie fish 
reached Boston, whicli was their destination, thej 
would fetch five dollars each. It is strange that 
the New Bruns wickers have no relish for the fish, 
because it is good, though rather substantial 
eating. But a prejudice such as they entertain 
cannot be removed by argument, any more than 
the prejudice of the Irish people against rabbits 
and of the Scottish people against eels. 

Moncton takes rank, after the Capital and St. 
John, as the most rising Kew Brunswick town. 
It is the headquarters of the Intercolonial E-ailway 
and the junction where the trains meet which 
run between Halifax and St. John and Halifax 
and Quebec. While St. John is situated not far 
from the mouth of the Bay of Fimdy, Moncton is 
at the head of that extraordinary sheet of water 
which, as the tide flows and ebbs, rises and falls 
in certain places as much as sixty feet. So far 
from the sea as Moncton, the difference between 
low and high water is thirty feet, and the contrast 
is most striking between the vast expanse of 
almost dry ground when the tide is out and the 
area of water where the largest ships can float 
when the tide is at its height. The phenomena 
called the " bore," which is occasionally seen on 



92 The Province of New Brunswick, 

the Severn, is a common occurrence at this part 
of the Bay of Fundy. 

A few years ago Moncton was a straggling and 
quiet village. The old and the new are easily 
distinguishable, the town having recently grown 
in the opposite direction to that which it followed 
in its early days. When the 600 acres within 
which it stands are covered with buildings the 
place will have an imposing appearance, and the 
main street, which is a mile long, will not seem so 
different from the other streets. As the centre 
of a large agricultural district, Moncton has long 
been a place where much business was transacted 
and this accounts for the number of stores ap- 
pearing to be far in excess of what the inhabitants 
could support. The articles on sale in some of 
these stores are very varied. On a notice-board 
outside one of them a list of the goods kept began 
with Bibles and Prayer Books and ended with 
newspapers, but did not include the potatoes, 
turnips, cabbages and other vegetables which 
were the chief things to be seen indoors. 

Late in the evening of the first day I spent in 
Moncton, I gazed upon a sight grander than any 
which I had beheld elsewhere, unless! except a 
fire in the woods on the bank of the St. John 
Eiver. I have seen a prairie ablaze and I have 
looked with wonder at the " tules " or gigantic 



A Forest on Fire. 93 

bulrushes sucli as grow on tlie banks of the Nile, 
burning as far as the eye could reach along the 
left bank of the Sacramento River in California, 
but this was the first time that I beheld the con- 
flagration of a forest. At first the fire seemed 
trifling, but the flames gradually rose in angry 
shape and spread in serried masses as tree after 
tree succumbed to the effects of an element which, 
in this case, was really a devouring one. The 
march of the fire was marked next morning by a 
space through the forest as clearly defined as if it 
had been wrought by machinery, and by hundreds of 
blackened trees which would never bud again. The 
sight of these bare and lifeless poles is a common 
one here; the poles are termed "ram-pikes." 
They are utterly useless, being valueless as timber 
and merely cumbering the ground. The people 
of Moncton thought nothing of a sight which 
impressed me greatly. They care no more about 
the loss of a part of a forest by fire than the in- 
habitants of a coal district care about the ignition 
and loss of a pile of waste coal at the pit's mouth. 
One of them, however, sympathized with me. He 
had left Ireland thirty years ago and he had 
prospered in New Brunswick, and he expressed 
his opinion that the folks in the old country would 
naturally regard the destruction of so much valu- 
able timber as a serious calamity ; adding that 



94 ^'^^ Provi7ice of New Brunswick, 

wood was too plentiful and clieap in New Bruns- 
wick to be sufficiently valued. But tlie day is at 
hand when even tlie forests of this Province will 
cease to be sources of wealth and to be regarded 
as practically inexhaustible. The area covered 
by primeval forest is gradually becoming cleared. 
Where young trees are allowed to grow they do 
not furnish timber equal in value to that derived 
from the old ones. Indeed, the industry of 
*' lumbering " which used to be a leading and 
profitable one in this Province, as well as in the ad- 
joining State of Maine, is growing less remunera- 
tive year after year. The day is not distant when 
it will have to be exchanged for that of cultivating 
the soil or rearing cattle and I do not hold that 
the exchange will be a loss. The farmer and the 
grazier make quite as industrious and sober 
citizens as " lumbermen." 

The gentleman to whom I have, just referred 
was an Irishman who has found in the Dominion a 
home which reconciles him to live away from his 
native Erin. He was a patriot in his youth who 
regarded 0' Conn ell with idolatry. His affection 
for the land of his birth is strong enough to cause 
him to watch its fortunes with intense interest. 
He seemed, however, to entertain a sentiment 
akin to that v/hich made Horace Walpole declare 
that he would love his country exceedingly if it 



Land Laws, 95 

were not for "his countrymen. He was personally 
acquainted with many of the Irishmen who devote 
themselves in the United States to stir up strife 
in Ireland. Between them and the Irish in 
Canada there is a strong antagonism. This was 
shown by the murder of Darcy McGee for his 
opposition to Fenianism and his denunciation of 
Fenians. My informant was emphatic in stating 
that his countrymen in New Brunswick were per- 
fectly satisfied with their lot, and his desire was 
that thousands, whose hearts were set upon having 
land of their own to cultivate and who could not 
attain their object in Ireland, might emigrate 
to that Province. No Province in Canada, nor 
any State in the Union is so liberal to settlers as 
New Brunswick. In the year 1868 an Act was 
passed by the Provincial Legislature empowering 
the Government to give free grants of 100 acres 
of land to a settler who paid a sum of $20 to be 
expended in making roads, or who gave his labour 
to the value of $10 for three years in succession, 
who built a house within two years and cultivated 
ten acres within three. An Act of 1872, now in 
force, is more liberal still. Under it an actual 
settler can obtain 100 acres of Crown land if a 
single man, and 200 acres if he be married and 
have two or more children, on condition that a 
house is built and three acres are cultivated within 



96 The Province of New Bj^unswick. 

a year and ten acres within tliree years. After the 
house is built, the Goyernment makes a present 
to the settler of $30. Moreover, he is protected 
against utter ruin by a law giving immunity to 
his property to the amount of $600, in the event 
of execution for debt. 

It is not easy for a visitor to the city of St. 
John to believe that nearly the whole of it was a 
blackened ruin a few years ago. A vacant charred 
space here and there proclaims in an unmistak- 
able fashion that a fire has swept a building away ; 
but the general aspect of the city is that of a 
prosperous place which has never been devastated 
by fire. Most of the buildings are new, but new 
buildings are what one expects to see on the 
North American Continent. Some of them, such 
as the banks of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 
are effective specimens of architecture. The 
Custom House has an imposing aspect, resembling 
in several particulars the Louvre at Paris. The 
docks are spacious and filled with ships ; it is the 
boast of the citizens that St. John ranks after 
Glasgow in the amount of its registered shipping 
and is, in fact, the fourth port in the Empire, 
Churches abound. As the city is built on a series 
of eminences, the Churches and the Church spires 
are visible at every turn. In answer to my inquiry 
whether St. John were not a very pious city, the 



Cattle Rearing, 97 

landlord of tlie hotel in wHicli I stayed replied 
that I ought not to reckon the Churches as a 
guide to such a conclusion, because they were 
largely exceeded in number by the '' whisky- 
holes." I heard many lamentations about the 
prevalence of intemperance. Efforts are made to 
lessen it by prohibiting the sale of strong drink, 
in imitation of the system prevailing in the ad- 
joining State of Maine. The struggle is carried 
on with a bitterness which does not edify the 
spectator and which cannot produce lasting good, 
whatever the political issue may be. My own 
opinion is that, if half the energy and money ex- 
pended in this controversy with the effect of 
stirring up bad blood, were devoted to encouraging 
immigration the Province would gain euormously. 
A new industry dating from the year 1879 pro- 
mises to increase the wealth of the Province. 
This is the exportation of sheep and cattle to 
England. No part of the Dominion is better 
adapted than New Brunswick for rearing cattle 
and the proximity of the sea-board is a natural 
advantage of the first importance. Like Nova 
Scotia it has been inadequately appreciated by 
the emigrants from the Old World ; indeed these 
two Maritime Provinces of Canada, which are 
among the oldest of any, are really less known 
than the younger which are more remote and far 

H 



gS The Provmce of New Brunswick, 

more difficult of access. Tlie emigrant who has 
resolved upon leaving the United Kingdom for 
Canada might go farther vrest than New Bruns- 
wick and fare worse than if he settled there. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PEINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 

The Island now called Prince Edward was known 
as St. Johns Island till 1800. In tliat year its 
name was changed to commemorate the sojourn 
of the Queen's father in British North America. 
Till 1770 it formed a part of the Province of 
Nova Scotia. In 1873 it became a Province of 
the Dominion of Canada. Though the smallest 
member of the Dominion, its area being a httle 
in excess of 2000 square miles, it has a population 
of 100,000, which is proportionalely larger than 
that of any other Canadian territory of the like 
extent. The situation of Prince Edward Island 
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence corresponds, in its 
relation to Canada, to that of the Isle of Wio^ht in 
its relation to England. The climate is milder 
and more equable than en the mainland. The 
sea breeze tempers the summer heat, and renders 
the Island a pleasant place of resort during the 

H 2 



lOO Prince Edward Island. 

warm season. The sea-bathing on the north side 
is excelleDt, and of late years many persons, not 
from Canada only, but from the United States 
also, take up their abode here in the summer time 
and enjoy a dip in the Atlantic surf. 

Though the distance across the Straits of 
^Northumberland between Cape Traverse, on the 
Island, and Cape Tourmentine, on the shore of 
New Brunswick, is 9 miles, and between the 
opposite end of the Island and Nova Scotia 15 
miles, yet the journey over the route taken by the 
steamer occupies four to five hours. During the 
winter months communication with the mainland 
is maintained with difficulty, it being often an 
arduous feat to force a passage through the ice 
w^hich j&lls the Straits. In spring, summer and 
autumn, steamers ply every other day between 
Point du Chene, in New Brunswick, and Summer- 
side, the second town of importance on the south 
coast of the Island, and between Pictou, in Nova 
Scotia, and Charlottetown, the capital of the 
Island. When beheld from the sea on a bright 
day, the Island looks very beautiful. Its cliffs 
are as red as those of South Devon, and the com- 
bination of red rocks, dark green woods, and 
green fields, dotted with white houses, is very 
pleasing to the eye. The coast is frequently in- 
dented with baySj running far inland, and swarm- 



Oysters, Mackerel, and Lobsters. loi 

ing witli j&sli. Shell-fisli abound. Oj^sters are 
plentiful and good. They are in great request at 
Halifax and other cities on the mainland. The 
shells are longer and the contents are larger than 
those of English oysters, and also than those of 
the " Blue Points " which are highly prized in the 
United States. On the other hand, they resemble 
English, oysters in taste more than those of the 
United States. 

The chief fishing industry is tliat of catching 
and curing mackerel, and tinning lobsters for ex- 
portation. There are nearly 50 factories in which 
lobster preserving is carried on, giving employ- 
ment to 2000 persons. Some of the factories treat 
from 10,000 to 15,000 lobsters a day. It was 
expected that 125,000 cases, each containing 48 
tins ll,b. in weight, would be exported the season 
of my visit. The price paid to the fishermen for 
every lobster delivered at the factory is half a 
cent, arid the present shipping price of each box 
holding 48 tins of lib., is S4 25c. ; in other words, 
nearly 43 lb. of lobster can be bought for export 
at a trifle over 16s. If I do not mistake, the 
retail price of a tin in England is 9(i., so the 
margin between 16s. paid here and the 30s. ob- 
tained for a case in England leaves a large per- 
centage out of which to defray incidental expenses 
and to gain a profit. I am told that lobster 



io2 Prince Edward Island, 

catcliing is forbidden by law during the montli of 
August. The fishermen neither seem to care 
anything about a close time, nor to pay a willing 
respect to the law which decrees it. One of them 
told me that, in his opinion, lobsters were always 
in season, and that he did not believe any one 
knew or would ever know when they spawned. 
He adduced evidence to the effect that, at all 
periods, they presented the appearance of being 
in a condition to spawn. Yet there can be no 
doubt in the minds of rational men that lobsters 
can be exterminated, just as oysters have been in 
places, if the number taken from a given spot be 
in excess of the number produced. 

The cultivators of the soil thrive as well on 
Prince Edward Island as the harvesters of the 
sea. Oats, potatoes, and buckwheat are the most 
remunerative crops. Large quantities of oats are 
exported to Europe. Hay is exported to the 
West Indies ; oats, hay, eggs, fish, and other 
edibles are exported to JSTova Scotia, New Bruns- 
wick, and Massachusetts. For several months 
in the year, a steamer which runs weekly 
between Charlottetown and Boston carries away 
many young islanders of both sexes, as well 
as the produce of the farms. The desire of 
the young men and women to visit Boston is as 
keen as the desire of young people in the rural 



Yield and Price of Potatoes, 103 

districts of England to visit London. In botli 
cases they consider that, when the capital of the 
country is readied, their fortunes are made. I 
asked some of the young islanders what was the 
special attraction of Boston. They replied that 
they had been told they could get high wages 
there. They did. not know that if the wages they 
received were higher than those obtainable in the 
island, the price of what they had to buy was 
higher also. Besides, they had the inducement 
of being able to make the experiment at the low 
cost of $8, and they were sanguine that they 
would have no reason to regret the change. It 
w^s the change of life which most of them de- 
sired. They could not complain of anything save 
the monotony of existence ; the Island seemed far 
too contracted a world to them. 

Prince Edward Island has an established repu- 
tation for producing excellent potatoes. Neither 
in size nor quality can any potatoes be found of a 
superior kind. As many as three and a half 
million bushels are produced in a single year. 
But the main difficulty is to find a market for 
this useful and abundant article of food. A 
year ago it was possible to buy a bushel of 
potatoes for 10 cents. At the time of my visit 
the price had risen to 15 cents, though 25 is the 
price at which the seller obtains a handsome 



I04 Prince Edward Island. 

profit. Even at 25 cents, or one sliilling, tLe 
price is extremely low from an Engiisli point of 
view, seeing that one penny a pound is accounted 
cheap by tlie purchasers of potatoes by retail. A 
bushel which sells in the Island for one shilling 
sterling would thus command five shillings in the 
London market. Last year, three steamers were 
freighted with potatoes from Prince Edward 
Island to England, but the result, unfortunately, 
was disastrous to the exporters. Whether the 
cause was imperfect packing or some other mis- 
take, certain it is that the potatoes arrived at 
their destination in so bad a condition that the 
parties who engaged in the venture lost money. I 
understand that the attempt will be renewed, and 
I hope that the issue may be more satisfactory. 

The first settlement of this Island on an exten- 
sive scale took place shortly after the beginning 
of the present century. It is not generally 
known, I think, that among the few sensible 
measures of Mr. Addington's much ridiculed 
Administration was one for encouraging settlers 
to make Prince Edward Island their home. Lord 
Selkirk stirred Mr. Addington to move in this 
matter. It was Lord Selkirk's desire to divert 
the stream of emigration to the British pos- 
sessions in !North America. He induced 800 
Highlanders to proceed to the Island in 1803. 



Highland Settlers, 105 

They prospered exceedingly. Tlie colony would 
have had many accessions had not war again 
broken out in Europe. When the war was draw- 
ing to a close in 1812, Lord Selkirk had set his 
heart npon what is now the Province of Manitoba, 
as the most eligible place for settlement; he had 
become chairman of the Hudson Bay Company 
and he had bought a large tract of land in the 
I^orth-west. Other Scottish families emigrated 
to the Island. The two parties were divided into 
hostile camps on the question of religions worship, 
the one being attached to the Roman Catholic 
form, and the other preferring the Presbyterian. 
Down to the present day there is enmity between 
the descendants of the two sets of immigrants 
from Scotland. The branch of the Church of 
England in the Island has also many adherents. 
The tendency in the Episcopal Church is towards 
the extreme form of Ritualism. 

There is now an end to the conflict which 
raged for a century between the tillers and pro- 
prietors of the soil in Prince Edward Island. 
From the date of its cession to England in 
1763 down to 1875, statesmen were perplexed 
with a '' land question " there. At the outset the 
best mode in which to dispose of the land had 
received great consideration. It was surveyed in 
176G ; two years before it had been granted to 



io6 Prince Edward I sla7td. 

Lord Egmont who was enamoured of tliat feudal 
system which, even in his day, was accounted 
foolishness by many peers. His scheme was to 
divide the Island into fifty baronies ; each baron 
was to erect a castle with a moat and drawbridge 
in genuine mediasval fashion, he was to maintain a 
certain number of men-at-arms and do suit and 
service to the Lord Paramount. Upon the 
merchants of London hearing that the king had 
granted this Island to Lord Egmont they valued 
the gift at half a million sterling. When his 
scheme for dealing with it was published, the 
public laughed at him and doubted whether he 
possessed his senses as well as an island. Sancho 
Panza could not have made a more absurd propo- 
sition about the Island of Barataria. 

Finding that he could not turn his grant to 
account Lord Egmont relinquished it, and the 
Board of Trade and Plantations devised a scheme 
of their own. According to this scheme, the 
Island was divided into ^1 townships of 20,000 
acres each ; the proprietor of each township was 
to find a settler for every 200 acres, within ten 
years after entering into possession, and to pay 
a sum varying from six to two shillings yearly for 
each 100 acres held by him. The applicants for 
the land were so many, being far in excess of the 
quantity to be allotted, that it was resolved to put 



Subdivisio7t of the Land, 107 

up tlie whole as prizes in a lottery, subdividing 
the townships into lots of a half or a third. 
The prize-holders became the proprietors of the 
Island, with the exception of two townships which 
had been reserved for the use of a fishing company. 
In a single day of the year 1767, l,o60,000 acres of 
land were appropriated to persons not many of 
whom had the intention either of settling on the 
Island or of inducing others to do so. The prizes 
were sold for cash ; many fetched as much as lOOOL 
at first ; but, the supply continuing, they ceased to 
have any value in the market. 

Yery few of the proprietors fulfilled the con- 
ditions under which they obtained their lands. 
In only ten townships were the conditions com- 
plied with as to settling one person for every 
200 acres, before the expiry of the time when the 
lands were to be forfeited in the event of all the 
conditions not being fulfilled. The quit rents 
remained unpaid. These proprietors were de- 
faulters to the Crown and at the same time 
exacting landlords. They declined to pay the 
rents for which they held their lands, but they 
insisted upon rents being paid to them by the 
tenants to whom they leased the lands. The 
scandal was so glaring that as far back as 1770 
an agitation began in the Island for the forfeiture 
of estates to which the holders had ceased to 



io8 Prince Edward Island, 

en jo J an indisputable title. Year after year tlie 
dissatisfaction waxed stronger. ISTothing of a 
decisive kind was accomplished till 1853 wlien 
tlie Provincial Legislature passed an Act autho- 
rizing the Government to purchase such estates 
as might be offered for sale and to resell them, 
in portions, to the tenants. Between 1854 and 
1871, thirteen estates, comprising 457,260 acres, 
were bought by the Commissioner of Crown 
Lands, acting for the Grovernment, at a cost of 
$518,294. In every case of re-sale the sum 
obtained for each acre was larger than that paid, 
so that the redistribution of the estates was 
profitable to the Government as well as satis- 
factory to both tenants and landlords. The Act 
was permissive only. Like all permissive legis- 
lation this attempt to settle the " land question " 
was fundamentally weak. The best landlords 
readily disposed of their property, the worst or 
the most useless refused to come to terms. Thus 
the agitation throughout the Island did not abate 
and the call for a drastic measure grew louder 
and more general. 

In 1860 another attempt was made to effect a 
settlement of the popular grievances by appointing 
a Commission to devise and enforce a measure 
for converting leasehold into freehold estates. 
The Commissioners consisted of the Hon. J. H. 



Landlords and Tenants, 109 

Gray of l^ew Branswick, nominated by tlie Britisli 
Government ; the Hon. Joseph Howe of Nova 
Scotia, nominated by the Legislature of Prince 
Edward Island, and the Hon. J. W. Ritchie of 
Halifax, nominated by the proprietors. A Pro- 
vincial Act was passed giving the force of law to 
the Commissioners' award. On the award being 
published the proprietors raised a technical objec- 
tion to the manner in which provision was made 
for valuinsr the land. The Commissioners had 
devolved the duty of valuing the land upon other 
persons, whereas they ought to have discharged it 
themselves. Hence it was that their lleport and 
award which the Duke of Newcastle, then Secre- 
tary of State for the Colonies, pronounced " able 
and impartial " were invalidated and their labour 
led to no result. The people throughout the 
Island regarded this conduct on the part of the 
proprietors as betokening bad faith and a deter- 
mination to thwart a thorough and enduring 
settlement. Accordingly the agitation increased 
in strength and the demands of the tenants became 
more extreme as well as more menacing to social 
order. A " Tenant's League" was formed with 
the avowed purpose of resisting the payment of 
rents. The civil power, not being able to make 
head against the opposition to authority, a mili- 
tary force was despatched from Halifax to aid in 



no P7dnce Edward Island, 

upholding and enforcing the law. Rents were 
collected at the point of the bayonet ; unless over- 
whelming force backed the demand, they were 
withheld. This lamentable and discreditable state 
of things lasted from 1865 till 1875 when the Land 
Purchase Act was passed. Under this Act the 
proprietor of any piece of land, or pieces of land 
amounting in the aggregate to 500 acres, who was 
in the receipt of rents, could be compelled to have 
his interest valued by a Commission and to have his 
property transferred to the Commissioner of Public 
Lands in exchange for the price fixed by the Com- 
mission and paid to him. No proprietor who culti- 
vated his own land was affected by the Act, pro- 
vided his estate did not exceed 1000 acres. The 
opposition of the proprietors to this Act was perti- 
nacious and vehement. A petition to the Crown 
praying that the Act might be disallowed, set 
forth that the Act embodied " a most unconsti- 
tutional principle," that it was utterly " destruc- 
tive to the rights and property " of the petitioners, 
that it reproduced to a considerable extent in one 
provision "the worst features of the Star Cham- 
ber," that it was an " act of open and sweeping 
confiscation " directed against persons '' whose 
only crime was to possess land in Prince Edward 
Island." However, the Act was put in force, the 
Commission over which Mr. Childers presided as 



Settleine7it of the Land Question, in 

representative of the Dominion of Canada, held 
its sittings and made its awards. Cases of dis- 
content were common, as was to be expected 
when the persons affected objected to the whole 
proceedings ; but cases of real hardship were rare 
and the Island has ceased to be the theatre of 
angry disputes respecting the tenure and treat- 
ment of land. 

The proprietors' loss has been the Island's 
gain. I found general satisfaction as to the 
result. I learnt also that, since the settle- 
ment of the land question and the transforma- 
tion of leasehold into freehold properties the 
area of land under cultivation has largely 
increased and that this salutary process is con- 
tinuing. I have since read the last report of Mr. 
Donald Ferguson, the Land Commissioner, which 
contains minute and satisfactory details as to the 
working of the Act. The following extract is 
instructive ; the passage which I print in italics I 
consider to be specially deserving of attention : — 
" The sums received at this office during the 
years 1877, 1878, and 1879 in payment of instal- 
ments, and interest on purchase-money, amount 
to §177,878 76c. A much larger sum would no 
doubt have been received were it not for the great 
depression in trade existing during that period, 
causing a decline in the prices usually received 



112 Prmce Edward Island, 

for agricultural products. Whilst some of the 
tenants are somewhat slow in meeting their 
instalments as thej fall due, the mapritij are 
making commendable efforts in that direction, and 
the piMic sentiment in the Colony loill sustain the 
Department of Public Lands in firmly but pru- 
dently enforcing payment of the balances rem^aining 
unpaid by the tenants.''^ 

A narrow guage railway, which runs from one 
end of the Island to the other, is of great service 
in developing its agricultural resources. Farmers 
can get their produce carried quickly and cheaply 
to the port of shipment. The railway is not a 
very pleasant one to travel on. There are no 
mountains in the Island, yet there are plenty of 
undulations and, as the line is carried iip one 
slope and down another and round sharp curves, 
the consequence is that the trains oscillate and 
jar to a great extent. A serious accident which 
occurred shortly before I journeyed on the 
railway, was attributed to the imperfect condition 
of the permanent way and the Dominion Govern- 
ment, who manage the line, were bitterly 
denounced for this by their political opponents. 
Their political supporters were quite as ready to 
maintain that the Government deserved thanks 
for having kept the line in excellent condition. 
I could not find evidence of any other fault save 



Summer side, 113 

that of running trains at too great a speed oyer 
dangerous curves and high gradients. 

Shipbuilding used to be the great industry of 
this Island. As many as 100 vessels were on the 
stocks at one time in the several yards, some 
being of 1000 tons burden. The demand for 
wooden vessels having fallen off, the Islanders are 
the losers. At Summerside, I saw but one small 
vessel on the stocks ; it was thought a subject of 
congratulatory notice in the newspapers that 
another of 600 tons, which was about to be built, 
would give employment to some of the ship- 
wrights who had been for some time in enforced 
idleness. Timber of the best quality is so 
abundant, labour is so plentiful and there are so 
many facilities here for supplying wooden vessels 
of the highest class at the lowest price that, 
should a demand for them spring up again, the 
Islanders will have busy times. I fancy, how- 
ever, that wooden hulls are destined to diminish 
in number and to be superseded by iron ones. 

Summerside, the second largest town in the 
Island, is in communication by steamer with 
Point du Chene, in JSTew Brunswick. The popu- 
lation is not much more than 3000. An attempt 
to make it a place of resort for summer tourists 
has failed for the present. This consisted in 
building a palatial hotel, called the Island Park 

I 



114. Prince Edward Island, 

Hotel, on an island in tlie Bay. The Island 
covers 200 acres and tlie grounds in which 
the hotel stands are beautifully laid out ; a steam 
ferry keeps up communication between the hotel 
and Summerside. For a time the 600 rooms in 
the hotel were filled, but the visitors gradually 
departed without any intimation that they would 
return. The result has been a heavy loss to the 
proprietor of the hotel, which, was closed when I 
saw it. Everything seemed in its favour. The 
situation was lovely ; a pleasanter spot on which 
to spend a few days or weeks it would be hard to 
find. But the sojourner in the Island Park 
Hotel found that it was less of a paradise than 
might have been supposed. I was told that the 
Island produces mosquitoes of a specially vicious 
and persevering cliaracter, and that these mos- 
quitoes did not rest till they had made the hotel 
too kot for its occupants. I have known cases of 
eyes being closed owing to mosquito stings, but I 
never before beard of mosquitoes shutting up a 
kotel. It is certain that the hotel was a failure 
and it is possible that the mosquitoes were 
unjustly blamed for a misfortune which might 
have been due to other causes. I did not sojourn 
on the Island where the hotel stands ; I cannot 
write from personal knowledge of its character as 
the hunting-ground for sanguinary insects, but I 



Charlottetown and its Stcburbs^ 115 

can saj tliat I was untroubled bj mosquitoes in 
Prince Edward Island. 

Charlottetown, the Capital, is the largest city in 
the Island and even it does not contain more than 
10,000 inhabitants. Its situation is admirable, 
being built on a rising ground at the bottom 
of Hillsborough Bay and at the confluence of the 
rivers Hillsborough, York, and Elliot. From the 
upper part of the city the prospect is charming ; 
in the distance are the hills of Nova Scotia, 
between them and the Island lie the Straits of 
Northumberland and many sheets of water filling 
irregular indentations in the shore, as well as 
many small islands or promontories covered with 
trees. There are several important buildings in 
Charlottetown, the principal one being the Colonial 
Building, where the Government officials and the 
Legislature are accommodated. The suburbs 
contain neat villas, surrounded with flower- 
gardens tastefully laid out and well kept. In 
traversing this Island and visiting the private 
houses and living in the hotels, one is pleasantly 
reminded of the Old World ; there is not much 
bustle and there is much more comfort. Times 
do not appear to have changed materially since 
the Island was divided into three counties. 
Kings, Queens and Princes, and since the 
chief streets of its capital were traced and named 

I 2 



1 1 6 P^Hnce Edwai^d Island, 

Kent, Dorchester, Grafton, Queen and Great 
George. Tlie conductors of the newspapers are 
less disposed than the other Prince Edward 
Islanders to take life easily and quietly. They 
display much energy and fertility in personal 
attack and recrimination. The newspapers often 
contain specimens of the style of journalism 
typified by the Eatanswill Gazette. Professional 
politicians, who are as active and unpopular here 
as they are in other parts of North America, 
frequently make public statements about each 
other's motives and conduct which the charitable 
stranger must hope are grossly exaggerated, if 
not wholly unfounded. 

Thouo^h the smallest Province of Canada, this 
one is not the least worthy of a visit. The future 
of the Island will probably resemble its past in all 
respects save the controversy concerning the land 
question, and also in the advance in wealth and 
population going on at an accelerated speed. It 
is possible that coal exists at a great depth, and it 
is known that a small quantity of iron ore exists, 
but the only natural wealth of the Island is in the 
trees which still remain and show how the whole 
country looked when it was entirely covered with 
forest, in the soil which is very fertile, in the 
game which is very plentiful and in the fish which 
swarm around the Island and fill its many rivers". 



Governor yohi Ready's Administration, 117 

During several years of its early history, complaints 
were made as to the injury wrought by the rapacity 
and tyranny of the Governors sent from England. 
One of tbem, Governor Smith, was actually 
removed in 1813 for misconduct, in deference 
to the strong complaints of the inhabitants. Since 
the Island has enjoyed responsible government, 
that is since 1851, its rulers have not had the 
power, even if inspired with a wish to do, mischief. 
The pleasantest memories of bygone days are 
associated with Governor John Ready who dis- 
played a benevolent disposition and a sincere 
desire to promote the welfare of the people. It 
was in 1827, during his Administration, that the 
first Census was taken, the population being 
found to number 23,266. At the beginning of 
the century the number was 5000. The census 
of 1871 showed that the population had increased 
to 94,021 ; it is estimated that about 15,000 have 
been added to the people during the last ten 
years. These statistics prove a steady increase in 
population and there is no apparent reason why 
the progress should be speedily arrested. 

After visiting the Maritime Provinces of Canada, 
I was struck with the advantage which they would 
derive from a legislative union. Before the Con- 
federation Act of 1867 was passed, it had been 



1 18 Prince Edwai^d Island, 

proposed to confederate tlie Maritime Provinces, 
but the jealousy and opposition of each was too 
great to be surmounted. Since becoming Pro- 
vinces of the Dominion, complaints are frequently 
made that they do not exercise so much influence 
at Ottawa as the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario. 
This grievance would be mitigated or removed if 
they joined their forces and acted as a unit. 
Their interests are identical; a single Provincial 
Legislature could provide for their local affairs, 
while as a united body, they would command 
greater respect in the Dominion Parliament. 
Home rule has its advantages ; but, when thr^e 
legislatures exist in a population of 800,000, the 
cost of home rule is greater than the benefit. 
"Whether the Maritime Provinces make this 
change or whether they remain as they are, they 
will be the better appreciated in Europe, the more 
they are known, and the tourist w^ho desires to see 
new places will find a trip through them both 
enjoyable and instructive. The time wasted by 
ambitious travellers in aimless journeys round the 
world and in describing what they had imperfectly 
seen and understood, would be more advan- 
tageoilbly expended, while literature might have a 
lesser quantity of rubbish added to it, if they 
leisurely traversed and truthfully described the 
Maritime Provinces of Canada. 



CHAPTER V. 

INTERCOLONIAL, GEAND TEUNK, AND NOETHEEN 
RAILWAYS. 

In 1838 tlie Earl of Durham strongly urged tlie 
British Government to construct a railway 
between Halifax and Quebec. In 1876 the Inter- 
colonial Railway was completed and opened for 
traffic. When passengers were first enabled in 
1869 to travel by rail from New York to San 
Francisco, they rejoiced that this had been rendered 
possible. It was not remembered that the con- 
struction of a Pacific Railway was advocated by 
John Plumbe in 1836. The rule is for a great 
national undertaking to be delayed at least thirty 
years longer than is absolutely necessary. A 
generation often passes away before the project 
of a far-seeing man is carried into effect by the 
persons whom he has converted to his views and 
who, when they see the feasibility and success of 



1 20 Intercolonial Railway, 

the undertaking are ready enougli to appropriate 
tlie credit wliicli is his due. 

The first objection made to the Intercolonial 
Eailway, while it was still the subject of considera- 
tion, was that it could not be constructed ; the 
second was that, if constructed, traffic over it 
would be suspended during the winter months ; 
the third and, in the opinion of most persons, the 
conclusive one was that, even if constructed, it 
could not possibly pay. The objections made in 
the United States to the Pacific Eailway were of 
the same character and were equally conclusive. 
Engineering skill has overcome all natural 
obstacles in both cases. The trains on both lines 
run with regularity all the year round, and both 
are successful railway undertakings. With, re- 
gard to all such undertakings as great trunk 
railways or interoceanic canals, the prophecies 
of failure are the only things connected with them 
which usually remain unfulfilled. 

The Intercolonial Eailway is the most palpable 
result of Canadian Confederation. At a meeting 
held at Quebec in 1864 of the delegates from the 
Provinces which first constituted the Dominion of 
Canada it was resolved, and this resolution was 
afterwards incorporated in the Imperial Act 
creating the Dominion, that " the general govern- 
ment shall secure, without delay, the completion 



Origin and Character, 121 

of the Intercolonial Railway from Riviere du 
Loup, tlirougb. New Brunswick, to Truro, in Nova 
Scotia." In accordance with this resolution and 
"with a capital of 3,000,000/. raised under Imperial 
guarantee, the construction of the railway was 
begun in 1869. Several surveys and plans for a 
railway had been made at an earlier day. The 
first scheme referred to a line, surveyed by Major 
Yule, R.E., which was to run from St. Andrew's in 
New Brunswick to Quebec and which a joint- 
stock Company was to construct with the sanction 
of the British Government. The International 
dispute as to the boundary between New Bruns- 
wick and the State of Maine caused the postpone- 
ment of this undertaking, and the Ashburton treaty 
under which certain territory, claimed and 
occupied by Great Britain, was ceded to the United 
States, caused the project to be abandoned. Several 
other plans for constructing a railway from the 
sea-board to Quebec through British territory were 
successively mooted, matured and laid aside. The 
great work was ultimately begun and completed, 
without half the difficulty which was expected and 
with more advantage to those primarily affected 
than had been imagined or foretold. 

Thougli not so gigantic a work as the Pacific 
Hallway from Omaha to San Francisco, it is yet 
no trifling display of engineering capacity. Its 



122 Intercolonial Railway, 

total lengtli, including branches to Pictou and 
Shediac, is 713 miles. A more substantial line of 
rail is not to be found anywhere. The permanent 
way is in admirable condition ; the rails are of 
steel ; the bridges are of stone or iron ; the engines 
and carriao^es are made of the best materials and 
on the latest models in the Government workshops 
at Moncton. It is indisputable that the snowfall 
is very heavy and the cold is intense in winter 
throughout much of the country through which the 
line runs. A part of it passes along a tract 743 
feet above the sea level. In the Metapedia 
Valley the weather is frequently severe, yet the 
detention of a train owing to bad weather is rarer 
than in the Highlands of Scotland. This is 
largely due to the careful provision which has been 
made for all contingencies. Wherever the snow 
is likely to drift and bar the passage of a train, 
fences have been erected to keep it off the line ; 
where it might fill up a cutting, snow sheds have 
been built ; one of these sheds, which is upwards 
of a miie in length, cost $1,500,000. In this case, 
however, the outlay has proved to be judicious 
economy. Only a short section of the line has 
baffled the efforts of the engineers to render it 
perfectly free from risk or trouble ; this consists 
of a vast slope composed of clay down which, in 
the spring-time, a heavy mass sometimes slides 



Workshops at Moncton, 123 

and sweeps rails and everything else before it. 
Various remedies have been tried in vain. As the 
clay is of excellent quality and bricks are in demand, 
it might serve a double purpose to erect a biick- 
making machine and thus turn the erratic clay to 
useful account. 

During my visit to Moncton, the headquarters 
of the Railway, I had the privilege of inspecting the 
Company's workshops and offices under the 
guidance of Mr. Bruce, the Chief Clerk, who was in 
temporary charge during the absence of Mr. 
Pottinger, the Government Superintendent, to 
whom I had an introduction. I was impressed 
with the business-like way in which everything 
was arranged and executed. The workshops are 
on a large scale, consisting of three huge buildings 
which cover 70 acres ; as many as 2000 men being 
employed when the demand for making or repair- 
ing cars and locomotives is at its height. A proof 
of the care with which the line is managed is the 
fact that carefully compiled Meteorological tables 
are kept at each station and forwarded at regular 
intervals to the head office, where they are filed 
for reference. This may seem superfluous, yet 
it is an eminently sensible as well as a practi- 
cal arrangement. Should the Manager be called 
upon to make compensation for damage to goods 
in course of transit, it may happen that the 



124 Intercolonial Railway, 

damage is entirely due to excessive heat or exces- 
sive cold or to a condition of the weather which 
exonerates the railway authorities from blame and 
from any liability to pay damages. By referring to 
the Meteorological tables on the given day at 
the place in question, the state of the weather can 
be ascertained and thus a dispute may be averted 
or settled. 

There can be no doubt that the Intercolonial 
Eailway is excellently constructed and admirably 
managed. The Chief Clerk, Mr. Bruce, who 
readily afforded me all the information I desired 
and displayed a courtesy which I heartily acknow- 
ledge, and Mr. Pottinger, the Superintendent, 
whose praise I heard from many mouths and 
whose ability is demonstrated by his success, 
evidently do their duty without reproach. Yet I 
am not convinced that a great railway should be 
a Government undertaking. The temptation to 
appoint or promote railway officers for party ser- 
vices rather than for personal merit is hard to 
resist and it is not easy to satisfy the public that 
Government patronage is uninfluenced by political 
considerations. Whenever this line is a paying 
property the Canadian Government would show 
wisdom in leasing it for a term of years. They 
would then be able to count upon an annual return 
without running any risk. Hitherto the working 



Scenery along the Line. 125 

expenses liave been in excess of tlie receipts, but 
the days of deficits appear to be numbered. The 
rate of increase has been rapid and, with one 
exception, continuous. In 1876-7 the deficit was 
$307,000; in 1877-8, it was $282,000; in 1878-9, 
it was $547,867 ; in 1879-80, it fell to $97,131. 
A profit has accrued at the time I write. This 
is the manner in which the prediction has been 
justified that the Intercolonial would never earn 
enough wherewith to pay for the grease on the 
axles of the wheels. 

The Intercolonial Railway is not only an in- 
valuable means of intercommunication between 
the Maritime and mid-Provinces of Canada, but 
it offers many attractions to tourists. From Hali- 
fax to Quebec the distance is ^^^ miles. After 
leaving Halifax the scenery begins to attract the 
beholder, nothing can be more charming than the 
chain of lakes with wooded islands nor can any- 
thing be more weird than the tract of country 
strewn with boulders. About thirty miles along 
the way the Gold quartz mining district is reached. 
Ten miles further on is Shubenacadie on a river of 
.that name which divides Nova Scotia into two 
parts and abounds in shad and salmon. I was 
told that the sunsets at Shubenacadie were gor- 
geous in the extreme. The statement was verified 
in my own experience ; never have I seen sunsets 



126 In ter colon ial Ra ilway, 

elsewhere that presented so many marvellous and 
brilliant effects. Truro, a refreshment station, 
was a small village before the railway was made; 
now it is a town of 5000 inhabitants. Ifc is sur- 
rounded by meadows and it has the benefit of the 
ocean breeze from the Bay of Fundy. At London- 
derry, a station further on, shipbuilding is the 
chief industry. Here the Acadian Charcoal Iron 
Company's works are situated ; these works have 
been acquired by English capitalists. The outlay 
upon them has been 300,000L and they are ex- 
pected to yield, when in full operation, 20,000 
tons of pig iron annually. The railway runs 
through the small settlement of Ishgonish, where 
rabbits are as plentiful as at Ostend. A local 
firm catches and tins these rabbits and exports 
them to England. The tins are labelled " Pre- 
served Hare." Purchasers of Nova Scotia pre- 
served hare ought to see that the contents of the 
tins tally with the label. The course of the line 
over the Cobequid Hills is very picturesque, the 
elevation reached being 600 feet, and the view both 
far and near being exceedingly beautiful. Where 
the level country is gained lies the village of Oxford; 
which is noted for its manufactures of carpenters' 
tools and wooden boxes. After entering the 
Province of New Brunswick, the most notable 
place on the line is Dorchester on the left bank 



Newcastle, 



12J 



of tlie Peticodiac Eiver. Near tliis place a mineral 
called "jet coal " is found in large quantities. It 
is as rich in gas as cannel coal. I pass over 
Monet on which I have already described and 
name Newcastle as next in order of note. It is 
the most important business place in New Bruns- 
wick after St. John. Like St. John it has been 
swept away by fire and rebuilt in a more attrac- 
tive style though not a more substantial manner, 
wood being principally used instead of stone which 
is quite as abundant and nearly as cheap. The 
Miramichi river on which it is situated is one 
of the largest in the Province, being 220 miles 
long and having a width of 9 miles at its mouth. 
At Bathurst the sightseer, as well as the angler, 
will be repaid should he visit the Grand Falls on 
the JSTequissiquit River. These Falls are 140 feet 
in height, and are sublime specimens of natural 
scenery. On the banks of another river, the Tete- 
a-Gauche, is to be found the curious Wax-yielding 
plant, Myra Conifera ; candles made from this 
wax are commonly used in the locality. Camp- 
bellton, which is 372 miles from Halifax is a place 
well known to the passengers who leave by the 
night express on Saturday, as they have to remain 
here all Sunday, the running of trains being for- 
bidden on Sunday in Canada. The attractions of 
Campbellton, which greatly resemble those of the 



128 Intercolonial Railway, 

town in Scotland after whicTi it was named, would 
be more appreciated if they were not seen under 
compulsion. From tliis point to Metapedia the 
first village in the Province of Quebec, the scenery 
is diversified and the places at which the tourist 
might halt are many. No finer fishing can be 
had anywhere than in the Restigouche and Meta- 
pedia Eivers ; the valleys of both streams abound 
with game while the scenery is on as vast and im- 
posing a scale as in the Alps, while it has at times 
all the soft effects which enchant the traveller in 
the Pyrenees. A pretty place in the Metapedia 
Valley bears the unpronounceable name of Assa- 
metquaghan. Shortly after this valley is left 
behind, the line nears the St. Lawrence, and runs 
at no great distance from it for upwards of 200 
miles till entering the terminus at Point Levi 
opposite Quebec. Here the Intercolonial ends 
and the Grand Trunk begins. In the latter part 
of the journey there are many places which tempt 
a halt, chief among them is Cacouna the fashion- 
able watering-place of the Dominion. Here the 
visitors can amuse themselves by bathing, boat- 
ing, fishing and shooting. There are several large 
and well-managed hotels at Cacouna, which is not 
only a pleasant place of resort for the holiday- 
maker, but also enjoys the reputation of restoring 
health to invalids. 



Mr, ytistice Henry, 129 

I journeyed over tlie Intercolonial from St. 
Jolin to Shediac, from Pictou to Halifax and. from 
Halifax to Quebec. A piece of pleasant personal 
experience on tlie last journey deserves mention. 
This consisted in forming the acquaintance of 
Mr. Justice Henry, a Judge of the Supreme Court 
of Canada. He is a native of Nova Scotia and 
took a leading part in the affairs of that Province. 
He was an earnest advocate of the Intercolonial 
Eailway and of the Canadian Confederation. In 
addition to being an active and a respected poli- 
tician, he distinguished himself as a law reformer ; 
it was at his suggestion and under his guidance 
that the Statutes of his native Province were re- 
vised, a work which was praised in the House of 
Lords by Lord Campbell, then Lord Chancellor. 
The reforms in legal procedure introduced by him 
are vast improvements on the old state of things. 
At a dinner given in his honour by the Bar of 
Nova Scotia in 1876, after his appointment as 
Justice of the Supreme Court and before his de- 
parture for Ottawa, the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. 
Archibald, said " It is fair to say that on our smaller 
scale Mr. Justice Henry has had the honour of 
initiating in this Province something in the same 
line of policy which has lately been carried out in 
England. If his bill did not succeed at once, it, 
at all events, entitles him to be considered as one 

K 



ijO Grand Trunk Railway, 

of the earliest and oldest advocates in tlais country 
of a policy on the subject of judicial tribunals, 
which has, after a long straggle, prevailed in the 
Mother country." I was gratified to learn from 
Mr. Justice Henry that the Canadian Supreme 
Court is working satisfactorily and fully attaining 
the objects of its originators. The cost of litiga- 
tion is reduced, owing to appeals to the Privy 
Council occurring in exceptional cases only. The 
existence of the Supreme Court adds to, while 
gratifying national feeling, in Canada. I have 
had the good fortune to become acquainted with 
several Canadian Judges and I have been impressed 
not only with their professional attainments, but 
with their readiness . to adapt themselves to 
changes of every kind and with their power of 
dealing with all matters as men of the world as 
well as trained lawyers. Among them Mr. Justice 
Henry is not the least notable. 

II. 

The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada is a sadly 
familiar name in many an English household. 
When the line was projected its shares and bonds 
were considered so good and safe an investment 
that thrifty parents bought them as a provision 
for their wives and children. During its con- 



Mr, Hicksoiis Management, 131 

struction the interest on the bonds was punctually 
paid. It is now difficult to credit that the Fourth 
Preference Bonds were once quoted at upwards 
of 70Z. each in the Stock Exchange official list. 
After the opening of the Victoria Bridge, when 
the interest on the bonds was to be paid out of 
earnings, many an English family was reduced to 
poverty, no surplus having accrued wherewith to 
meet the interest on all the bonds and to divide 
something among the shareholders. Writing on 
" Eailways ; their Cost and Profits " in the West- 
minster Review for October 1862, 1 stated that the 
G-rand Trunk Railway was perhaps the most un- 
successful undertaking of the time : *' it has been 
made fifty years too soon for profit, but not a day 
too soon for the Province." This prediction has as 
good a prospect of being verified as any prediction 
about the future of a railway. The receipts are 
now increasing so largely that bondholders who 
despaired of their lot are now receiving a return, 
and the case of the shareholders has ceased to be 
absolutely hopeless. This pleasing transformation 
is due, both to the progressive improvement' in 
traffic, and to the great organizing and administra- 
tive ability of the General Manager, Mr. HicksoQ, 
whose policy has been ably carried into effect by 
his assistant Mr. Drinkwater and a well-selected 
and an efficient staff. 

K 2 



132 Grand Trunk Railway. 

The traveller bound West from the city of 
Quebec can now journey over the Grand Trunk 
as far as Chicago. By securing a direct through 
line to the great city of Illinois, the Manager and 
Directors of the Grand Trunk have displayed as 
much judgment as boldness. Moreover, the Inter- 
colonial acts as a feeder to their line, so that the 
connexion by rail is unbroken between Halifax on 
the Atlantic and Chicago on Lake Michigan. 

A feeder to the Grand Trunk of great value is 
now in course of construction. It starts from Sher- 
brooke and runs through New Brunswick till it 
joins the railway in that Province which now runs to 
St. John. The saving in distance between the sea- 
board and Montreal over this line will be 200 miles, 
and the result may be to make St. John a still 
more dangerous rival to Halifax. It is possible 
also that the Intercolonial may be injuriously 
affected, yet of this I am very doubtful. The 
local traffic on the Intercolonial will not be di- 
minished, and this is quite as remunerative as the 
through traffic. Indeed, there is ample room for 
both lines. When this new route is open the 
Grand Trunk will have three termini on the 
Atlantic, one at Portland in Maine, a second at 
Halifax in Nova Scotia and a third at St. John in 
JSTew Brunswick. When the Canadian Pacific 
Eailway is finished, the Grand Trunk will form 



Glut of Traffic, 133 

an important and profitable link in tlie iron road 
wliicli will then pass across British Territory 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. 

It is eleven years since I first travelled over the 
Grand Trunk Railway ; on my last journey I could 
scarcely fancy that the line was the same, so com- 
plete had been the improvement in the interval. 
At the date of my earliest trip over the Grand 
Trunk, the chance of arriving at the appointed 
hour was very slight ; the probability of a break- 
down, if not of a serious accident, being very great, 
the oscillation and jumping of the cars being 
intolerable. I^ow, the trains run with remarkable 
punctuality and with a smoothness equal to that 
on the best railway in England or elsewhere; acci- 
dents have happily become very rare. It seems 
to me that there is as m-uch goods and passenger 
traffic on the line as can be accommodated ; 
the pressure on the rolling stock is specially 
severe between Montreal and Toronto. Another 
line of rails may yet have to be added between 
these two places. I think, however, that the 
struggles of the Grand Trunk as a commercial 
undertaking are nearing their close and that the 
long expected period of prosperity is about to 
begin. Everything that can be done by skilful 
management to make the line remunerative has 
been carefully attended to, and the shareholders 



134 Northern Railway, 

may yet find that tlieir patience "has not been tried 
in vain, and that the sanguine expectations which 
they once cherished about future profits were 
premature rather than baseless. 



III. 

"While the Grand Trunk runs west beyond 
Toronto, another line, the Northern, running in 
a north-westerly direction, connects that city 
with Collingwood on Georgian Bay. The distance 
between the two places is 95 miles. At Allandale 
a branch runs to the Muskoka district, that pic- 
turesque region of wood and water which bears 
many resemblances to the Highlands of Scotland. 
The total length of the Northern with its 
branches is 167 miles. It has been under the 
management of Colonel Cumberland since 1859. 
Before his advent, the prospect of the line becom- 
ing remunerative was very slight. A great change 
for the better has now taken place, the vigour 
and ability of Colonel Cumberland having altered 
the prospects of the railway. Not only is the line 
in an admirable state for transporting goods and 
passengers, but its stations are models of neatness 
and good taste. The sight of a pretty garden at 
a station is common enough in England, but it is 



Mtiskoka Lakes, 135 

so rare in Canada and the United States that tlie 
flowers, grass and shrubbery at the stations on 
the Northern Railway impress a stranger as ex- 
ceedingly effective. 

The country through which the Northern Rail- 
way runs after leaving Toronto is well adapted 
for farming. The Yale of Aurora is a district in 
which good grain is grown and horses and sheep 
of the best kinds are reared. Beyond the village 
of Aurora is Newmarket which is noted for manu- 
factures. Half-way between Toronto and Col- 
lingwood is the Holland River Marsh, a spot 
where snipe and wild duck abound and where 
there is also excellent fishing. At AUandale, the 
junction for the Muskoka branch, the prospect is 
lovely. This place and Barrie are on Kempenfeldt 
Bay in Lake Simcoe. This Lake as well as the 
Lakes in the Muskoka district are not like the 
huge inland seas which entirely upset the ideas of 
Lakes formed by visitors to the north of England, 
the Highlands of Scotland and to Switzerland. 
The sheets of water in this part of Canada while 
seldom too vast to be embraced at a single glance, 
are exquisite in their surroundings. 

It is fifteen years since the Muskoka district 
was thrown open for settlement and free grants 
of land were made to those persons who should 
fix their homes there. The influx of settlers has 



136 Northern Railway. 

been considerable ; the inhabitants numbered 300 
in 1861 ; tbey now number about 10,000. Many 
persons bave been disappointed because tlie land 
is of small value for the agriculturist, though 
furnishing a beautiful prospect to the tourist. 
The settler naturally prefers fine soil to fine 
scenery. Moreover, the country was in a wild 
state when the first settlers went thither and was 
not so easily farmed as in the west, where the 
prairie is ready for the plough. But the early 
failures of a few have been the exceptions and the 
country is now becoming filled with industrious 
and thriving families. Year after year it is grow- 
ing in favour as a place of summer resort, being 
to Ontario what the Highlands are to England. 
All this brings traffic to the Northern Railway. 

Collingwood is the most important station on 
the line, being the place of departure and arrival 
of the steamers which ply between this town and 
Duluth at the head of Lake Superior. Other 
lines of steamers run between Collingwood and 
Chicago. As the West becomes more populous 
and the surplus of products increases in amount, 
the trade on the Northern Lakes must grow in a 
corresponding ratio and this increase will add 
more traffic to the Northern Railway. It stands 
fourth, in the extent of its traffic, among Canadian 
lines of rail. As the line whereby north-western 



Fttture Prospects, 137 

Ontario will be developed and which will profit, 
in turn, bj such development, it stands first. 
Possessing a virtual monopoly of an important 
tract of country, the Northern should attain a 
high place among the most successful Canadian 
Railways. 



CHAPTER YL 

ACEOSS LAKE SUPERIOE. 

The traveller bound for tlie Canadian Far "West, 
who crosses the Atlantic in an Allan liner, 
reaches Toronto hj rail after landing at Halifax, 
Eimouslvi or Quebec. Unless he shall have made 
up his mind before leaving home as to the route 
which he will take in order to arrive at Manitoba, 
he finds at Toronto that three courses are open 
to him and that each has its professed advantage 
or special temptation. First, he may proceed to 
Winnipeg by rail. If he travel night and dsij, he 
is at his journey's end in three days and a half. 
Second, he may proceed to Sarnia on Lake 
Huron over the Grand Trunk Railway, embark 
there in a steamer for Duluth, at the head of 
Lake Superior, where he takes the train for 
Winnipeg. Third, he may proceed to Colling- 
wood on Georgian Bay over the Northern of 
Canada Railway, where a steamer will carry him 



The Noi'th Shore Roide, 139 

to Duluth whence he continues his journey as in 
the second case. The time occupied in the third 
of these cases is four days and a half, being one 
day shorter than by the Sarnia route and one day 
longer than the direct route by rail. In addition 
to the saving in time, the third route has the 
advantage over the second that the voyage is 
made along the North Shore of Lake Superior 
where the scenery is bolder and more varied than 
on the South. During five months out of the 
twelve, Lake Superior is closed to navigation; 
the open season begins at the end of April and 
closes at the end of November. As the boats 
were running, I determined to cross the Lake and, 
after careful consideration, I elected to start from 
Collingwood in order to enjoy the attractions of 
the North Shore route. 

Five hours after leaving Toronto on a Thurs- 
day forenoon, I reached Collingwood and I 
looked for the City of Winniijeg^ the steamer 
which was advertised to leave the wharf shortly 
after the arrival of the train. I looked in vaia. 
The steamer did not get to Collingwood on her 
return trip till Saturday evening, having been 
detained owino^ to boisterous weather and havinof 
been so much injured that she had to be docked 
for repairs. On Sunday evening the Frances 
Smith, another steamer of the same line, reached 



140 Across Lake SupeiHor, 

Collingwood and lier Captain reported that Tie 
had encountered a gale on the upward trip which 
jeopardized the vessel's safety and did some 
damage to her. After being temporarily re- 
paired, she started for Duluth on Monday night. 
I was not sorry to leave Collingwood, having 
grown tired of waiting there four days for a 
steamer which might appear at any mo- 
ment. 

In other circumstances I might have liked 
Collingwood better. The town is of recent date. 
It stands upon what was formerly a cedar swamp. 
Its advance in importance has been rapid. The 
population numbers 4000. Collingwood is ad' 
mirably situated for the purposes of commerce ; 
the greater part of Ontario's trade with the 
Upper Lakes must pass through it. The soil in 
the immediate vicinity is poor, yet certain vege- 
tables and fruits flourish there, the vield of 
excellent plums being very large. Small though 
Collingwood be, it is yet rich enough to support 
two weekly newspapers and one daily. There 
are many attractive villas in the neighbourhood 
where the prosperous merchants reside. There 
is an Episcopalian, a Methodist and a Eoman 
Catholic Church and two Presbyterian Churches. 
In the two principal hotels the traveller is housed 
at a very moderate charge. At one of them I 



A Landlord's Career, 14 1 

obtained a comfortable room and excellent food 
for the small sum of $1 a day. 

The proprietor of the hotel told me an inte- 
resting storj of his struggles with fortune. Born 
in the North of Ireland, he came to Canada at an 
early age. lie migrated to Collingwood, where 
he followed the trade of a shoemaker. Being a 
skilful workman he was able to save a little 
money and to employ men to execute the orders 
he received. He had as many as eight men in 
his employment and had plenty of business when 
he was obliged to suspend payment owing to the 
bad debts which he made. Then he became hotel 
keeper, prospered in that capacity and paid all 
his old creditors in full, the sum required for the 
purpose being $2500. Soon afterwards his hotel 
was burnt down; it was uninsured and he lost 
everything except a good name and credit. On the 
strength of his credit he borrowed money, where- 
with to buy the site on which his hotel had stood, 
and to erect a new building. He has now paid 
off all his liabilities and is independent. He 
ascribes his success in life to working hard and 
mindinof his own business. He told me that his 
fueling for Ireland was as warm as ever, but that 
he felt ashamed of many Irishmen. He spoke 
highly of the neighbouring country as a place 
where farmers can prosper. There are many 



142 Ac7^oss Lake Supe^^ior. 

« 
farms of lOOacreswitli substantial liouse and offices 

which can be bought for $7000. In several cases 

farms are for sale because the possessors have not 

inherited their fathers' viitues as well as their 

acres. Taking life easily and giving to pleasure 

the energy which ought to be expended in their 

fields, these young men find that they have to raise 

money by mortgaging their land, and are often 

obliged to part with the land because they cannot 

meet the interest on the mortgages. 

The Frances Smith is a paddle steamer. For 

sea-going purposes a steamer propelled by 

paddles is inferior to one propelled by a 

screw, but the former commonly affords superior 

accommodation to passengers. I had a better 

furnished and more spacious state-room in the 

Frances Smith than is to be found on the best 

Atlantic liners. I cannot imagine anything more 

enjoyable in fine summer weather than a trip 

in such a steamer. But when the equinoctial 

gales are blowing and Lake Superior is a raging 

sea, a steamer like this is neither comfortable nor 

staunch. If the engines broke down the vessel 

would be at the mercy of the waves. On a 

screw steamer sail can be carried which might 

prove serviceable in the event of damage to the 

machinery. The voyage was tedious owing to 

stormy weather. Leaving Collingwood on Mon- 



Tempesttiotts Weather, 143 

day night we did not reach Duluth till the suc- 
ceeding Monday morning, though we were due on 
the previous Thursday night. Captain Robertson, 
who has had seven years' experience of navigating 
Lake Superior, had never seen a worse season; 
this does not prove much, however, for the Cap- 
tains of steamships always appear to think that 
the present bad weather is unprecedented. This 
is their mode of flattering passengers ; the latter 
are rather proud of hearing that their experience 
of the weather is altogether exceptional and that 
their survival is almost miraculous. However, 
the Captain of the Frances Smith demonstrated 
that he considered the weather very bad, for, 
rather than face the gale blowing in Georgian 
Bay, he remained twelve hours in the sheltered 
harbour of Owen Sound. Another steamer which 
left Collingwood for Chicago soon after we 
started, was driven on an island in Georgian Bay 
and became a total wreck. The Captain of 
our steamer had the greater reason for caution 
because the boat was obviously over-laden. 
There were several horses and fifty head of cattle 
on board ; cargo was piled in every spot where 
space could be found ; ample provision seemed 
to have been made for causing what would have 
been misnamed an accident. 

Though the weather was unpropitious for full 



144 Across Lake Stiperior. 

enjoyment of tlie scenery, yet I saw enongh to 
lead me to concur in the praise lavished upon it. 
As many as ten thousand islands or islets have 
been counted in Georgian Bay and this figure is 
believed to be far under the mark. Many are 
wooded ; they differ in shape and they give a 
variety to the landscape which is exceedingly 
charming. The steamer was a whole day thread- 
ing its course among this maze of islets. Killarney 
on the north shore is the fourth stopping-place 
after leaving Colling wood; it is a village con- 
sisting of about twenty houses and a church. 
The land is very poor in the neighbourhood ; the 
laurentian formation is conspicu3us, the out- 
cropping of bare rock being more frequent than 
patches of soil. The people are Indians and Half- 
Breeds who live by catching fish and gathermg 
fruit. They had many tubs of freshly caught 
white fish and salmon trout and barrels of cran- 
berries for sale, the latter costing $5 each. 
Specimens of Indian embroidery were in a store 
over which was a sign '' Indian Works." As a 
few of the houses were new, I inferred that the 
village of Killarney was flourishing. 

A very different impression was produced by 
the sight of the Bruce mines. This was once a 
busy settlement; now it is in decay; many of 
the houses are empty and the church seems 



The B^'ttce Mines, 145 

falling into ruin. The copper-mines around 
wliich the settlement had gathered belong to an 
English Company. At one time thej were very 
remunerative. A gentleman who had managed 
one of the principal mines told me that, if copper 
were to fetch 16(i. a pound again all these mines 
would return large dividends, but that, at the 
present price of copper, they must be worked at 
a heavy loss. The works are stopped and the 
machinery is not only idle, but it is deteriorating 
rapidly. However, the English Company is so 
fortunate as to possess in addition to unproduc- 
tive mines, 6500 acres of good farming land, for 
which there is a demand ; the capital sunk in the 
mines may be partly replaced from their sale. 

The Bruce mines are 307 miles from Colling- 
wood. After leaving them the steamer enters the 
St. Mary's Eiver, connecting Lake Superior with 
Lake Huron ; it is about sixty miles long. For a 
great part of its course it bears no resemblance to 
a stream, being rather a series of shallow lakes, 
among which Bear Lake and St. George's Lake 
are the most important. At the outlet of the 
latter the Neebish Rapids attract attention, chiefly 
because the current is so jnuch less sluggish there 
than at other parts. The St. Mary's River is 
meandering as well as shallow ; at parts the space 
between the banks is narrow and the banks them- 



146 Ac7^oss Lake SupeiHor, 

selves are very picturesque. When I saw tliem, 
tlieir rocky sides were not only tinted with many 
colours but their summits were crowned with 
trees glowing in the gorgeous tints of a Canadian 
autumn. On the northern side there is an Indian 
reservation whereon an Indian tribe, under the 
rule of Chief Francis, lives by fishing and farming. 
In physique the chief strikingly resembles the 
great Duke of Wellington and in character he is 
quite as shrewd. He resists all encroachments on 
his domain. The Quebec and Lake Superior 
Mining Company discovered a silver-mine to 
which access could be had only through the 
Indian reservation. Chief Francis refused to 
allow the Company's servants to exercise the 
right of way which they claimed on the technical 
ground that the land was unfenced. When the 
Indians understood the nature of the claim, they 
lost no time in surrounding the land with fences 
of the strangest and most primitive kind and thus 
check-mated the Company. Chief Francis stands 
upon his legal right, and he will neither surrender 
his title to the land nor sell any of it. The 
Canadian Government respect his title, and there 
is no likelihood of Chief. Francis havinsf to make 
any change against his will. He knows that a 
treaty with Indians is always scrupulously 
respected wherever the British flag floats. 



Homes for Indian Children, 147 

A little way further up tlie river, at Sault Ste. 
Marie, on the Canadian side, is the Shingwauk Home 
established six years ago by members of the 
Church of England in Canada for the training of 
young Indian boys. Two years ago the Wawanosh 
Home was estabhshed for training Indian girls. 
There is accommodation for eighty boys and thirty 
girls. The Government gives a small subsidy to 
the Homes, but voluntary contributions are their 
chief support. As is common with charitable 
institutions these two labour under the drawback 
of poverty. I am assured that both have been 
appreciated by the Indians, who are glad to send 
their children to be educated and, I may add, 
civilized there. A little monthly paper printed at 
the Boys' Home called the J.?^o?72(X Missionary Neios 
and Shingwauk Journal gives information about 
missionary progress among the Indians. The 
profits from the sale go to the support of the 
Home; the yearly subscription is only S 5 cents. 
Moreover, any one who desires to support a boy 
or girl, including clothing, can do so by paying 
$75 a year. The purposes and wants of these 
Homes only require to be generally known for 
their prosperity to be assured. It is through such 
agencies that the Indians of Canada will not only 
remain peaceful dwellers in the land, but are 
prepared and disposed to exercise the privileges of 

L 2 



148 Across Lake Supeinor, 

citizen sliip to wliicli they are entitled, under 
Canadian law, whenever they choose to comply 
with the requisite formahties. 

On the Michigan side the land is good and 
well-cultivated. The most comfortable looking 
house and the best laid grounds belong to Mr. 
Church who has accumulated a fortune by making 
raspberry jam. He settled here when this part 
of the State was unpeopled by white men 
and he employed Indians to gather the wild 
raspberries which grow in profusion. He made 
them into jam which he forwarded for sale 
in the more settled and civilized parts of the 
United States. His jam grew into favour with 
the public and he became very rich. 

At Sault Ste. Marie the steamer passes through 
a canal into Lake Superior. This canal is a fine 
example of engineering skill, but it will soon be 
superseded by a still finer example. The second 
canal is an admirable piece of work, every part 
being built of the most durable materials. Vessels 
drawing sixteen feet of water will be able to pass 
through the new canal. It is not creditable to 
Canada that no such canal has been made on her 
side of the rapids. The natural difficulties are 
far less there, while the advantages of a canal 
through Canadi[in territory are obvious. 

As a spectacle, the Eapids are very striking. 



Fishing in the Rapids, 149 

For the distance of a mile tlie waters of Lake 
Superior rush down over shelving rocks ; at 
intervals in the descent, islets, covered with trees, 
form obstacles to the hurrying waters which eddy 
and foam around them. In the eddies white fish 
lie and feed till they fall a prey to the Indian 
fisherman. It is nearly two centuries and a half 
since the Sault Ste. Marie was first visited by 
white men. In 1641, two Jesuit missionaries, 
Fathers Raymbault and Jorgues, pushed their 
explorations as far as this place. They then 
found an Indian village of two thousand persons 
on the spot where a small United States city now 
stauds. For centuries the Chippewa Indians had 
made this a place of abode, living on the white fish 
that swarm in the Eapids. The mode of fishing 
is unlike any which I ever saw practised. Two 
Indians stand upright at either end of a canoe and 
force it up the swift running stream. One attends 
to keeping the canoe's head up stream while the 
other watches for a fish ; on seeing one he scoops 
it out with a small net attached to a pole six feet 
long. The pole, with the net attached, is not 
easily handled on land ; when a fish weighing 
from ten to fifteen pounds is in it, the phy- 
sical exertion required to raise the net must be 
great. There is a knack in this as in all other 
feats; but it is one which none but Indians are 



150 Ac7^oss Lake Stipe7'ior, 

known to acquire. The Indians get 2 cents a 
pound for the fish they catch, which are packed in 
ice and sent to Detroit. The fish caught in the 
Rapids are better eating than those caught above 
or below them, the flesk being firmer and the 
taste being more delicate. I never enjoyed a 
greater delicacy than a piece of white fish which I 
ate within half an hour after the fish had been 
s dimming in the water. Another new sensation 
I did not covet. This consists in running the 
Eapids in a . canoe. Adventurous and curious 
persons can have their desire gratified by Indians 
in exchange for $5. The first step is the payment 
whick is enforced before-hand, the next is to 
spend a couple of minutes in breathless excitement, 
as the canoe spins down the foaming water, and 
to be drenched by tke spray through whick tke 
canoe passes, tke final conclusion being tkat tke 
game is not wortk tke cost. 

Wken one looks at tkese Eapids wkere fisking 
kas been prosecuted in tke same faskion for 
centuriep,, one is not so greatly struck witk tke 
little change in this respect which has taken 
place, as with the greatness of other changes. 
Powerful Indian tribes, whom the first white man. 
laboured to conciliate before essaying their con- 
version, have passed away leaving only names 
behind. Tke Jesuit Fatkers wko visited tkis spot 



A Historic Ceremony, 151 

would have less difficulty in recognizing it agaia 
if the J could return to earth, than in realizing the 
transformation in the position of that great French 
nation which they admirably represented and 
devotedly served in the wilds of western Canada. 
Few scenes in French colonial history are so 
memorable as that of which this place was the 
theatre on the 14th of June, 1671. A grand 
council then assembled, in which fourteen Indian 
tribes were represented, where the Rev. Claude 
Dablon, Superior of the Lake Missions, Fathers 
Gabriel Druillettes, Claude Allouez, and Louis 
Andre represented the Church, and where M. 
Daumont de St. Lusson with fifteen of his followers 
represented the Government of Louis the Four- 
teenth. A large cross was blessed by Father 
Dablon and erected on a hill, while the Frenchmen, 
with bare heads, sang the Vexilla Regis. Near the 
cross a post was fixed in the ground and to it was 
fastened a metal plate on which the royal arms 
were engraved; the Exaudiat was sung and a 
prayer ofi'ered for the King during this part of 
the ceremony. Then Daumont de St. Lusson stood 
forth with upraised sword in one hand and a clod 
of earth in the other and said in a loud voice : 
'' In the name of the most high, mighty, and 
renowned monarch Louis, Fourteenth of that 
name, most Christian King of France and Navarre, 
I take possession of this place, Sainte Marie du 



152 Across Lake Supe7'ior. 

Saiit, as also of Lakes Huron and Superior, tlie 
Island of Manatoulin, and all countries, rivers, lakes, 
and streams contiguous and adjacent thereunto; 
both those which have been discovered and those 
which may be discovered hereafter, in all their length 
and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of 
the North and of the West, and on the other by the 
South Sea : declaring to the natious thereof that 
from this time forth they are vassals of his Majesty, 
bound to obey his laws and follow his customs : 
promising to them on his part all succour and 
protection against the incursions and invasions of 
their enemies : declaring to all other potentates, 
princes, sovereigns, states and republics, — to them 
and to their subjects, — that they cannot and are not 
to seize and settle upon any parts of the aforesaid 
countries, save only under the good pleasure of 
his most Christian Majesty, and of him who will 
govern on his behalf; and this on pain of incurring 
his resentment and the efforts of his arms. Long 
live the King." ^ 

After the representative of the* King had 
performed liis official duty. Father AUoiiez 
harangued the Indians about the ceremonies 
which they had witnessed, impressing upon them 
that they should worship Christ upon the Cross, 
and honour and obey the King, who, he told 
them, had lio equal upon earth. Many fulsome 
panegyrics were passed upon Louis during his 

* Translated and quoted by Mr. Parkman in his admirable 
work " The Discovery of the Great West," pp. 41-2. 



Panegyric on Louis XIV. 153 

lifetime, but none surpassed this one. The 
Indians were told that when Louis goes to war all 
his chiefs raise armies. " When he attacks, he is 
more fearful than thunder. The earth trembles, 
and the air and the sea are on fire from the dis- 
charge of his cannon. He has been seen in the 
midst of his squadrons covered with the blood of 
his enemies ; so many of them has he put to the 
sword that he does not number their scalps, but 
merely the rivers of blood which he has caused to 
flow. He carries such a number of captives with 
him that he does not value them, but lets them go 
where they please, to show that he does not fear 
them. Nobody dares make war on him. All 
nations beyond the sea have sued for Peace with 
great submission. They come from every quarter 
of the globe and hsten to him and admire him. 
It is he who decides upon the affairs of the world. 
What shall I say of his riches ? You think your- 
selves very rich when you have ten or twelve sacks 
of corn, and hatchets, and kettles and other things 
of the kind. He has more cities than you have men, 
which are scattered over a space of more than five 
hundred leagues. In each city there are shops 
containing hatchets enough to cut all your wood, 
kettles enough to cook all your cariboo and sugar 
enough to fill all your wigwams. His house extends 
further than from here to the Sault, is higher than 
the tallest of your trees, and contains more people 
than the largest of your settlements ever contained." 
It is doubtful whether the Indians to whom 
Father Alloiiez recounted the feats and magnifi- 



i^\ Across Lake Superior, 

cence of the great Louis were so mucli impressed 
by the recital as they were by Lake Superior. 
The Lake they worshipped. It was the source 
of their chief food and it represented to them the 
might and mystery of the ocean. No other sheet 
of fresh water on the globe is larger or more 
wonderful. Its extreme length is 355 miles and 
its breadth 160; it covers an area of 32,000 
square miles. The surface of the Lake is 627 feet 
above the sea level ; parts of its bed are several 
hundred feet below it ; hence it is one of the 
deepest depressions on the earth's face. The 
largest and deepest, it is also the coldest body of 
water in the world, the temperature not rising 
above 35° Fahrenheit when the summer is at its 
height. The most skilful and the boldest swimmer 
may abandon all hope should he have to swim any 
distance for his life in Lake Superior. The sailor 
has to exercise the utmost caution when navi- 
gating a vessel upon it. Fogs are frequent and 
they obscure the air in the twinkling of an eye. 
Without any warning the wind often begins to 
blow furiously, and lashes the placid bosom of the 
Lake into tumultuous waves. The Atlantic during 
a gale is not a grander or a more sublime spec- 
tacle, and the navigation of the Atlantic is never 
a greater test of seamanship than that of Lake 
Superior when a storm is raging. 



Michipicoten Island, 155 

Micliipicoten Island, distant about a Hun- 
dred miles from Sault Ste. Marie, is the first 
regular stopping-place after entering the Lake. 
The Island rises 800 feet above the water ; it is 
richly wooded, the principal trees being maple, 
birch, spruce, cedar, balsam and mountain ash. 
The climate is more temperate than on the main- 
land. It is probable that the Island may become 
a favourite place of resort during the summer 
months on account of the extreme salubrity of the 
air. The soil, which is a rich vegetable mould mixed 
with sand, is very well fitted for growing root crops. 
Beautiful agates are found along the beach. The 
visitors who busy themselves in searching for agates 
are generally die appointed, as the keeper of the 
lighthouse has forestalled them in gathering the 
finest specimens. Those persons who buy agates 
instead of trying to pick them up, may amuse 
themselves profitably by fishing, as speckled trout 
abound close in shore and can easily be caught. 

The Jesuit Fathers who were the earliest explorers 
of this region of the Continent have left on record 
many interesting particulars about the mineral 
riches which abound on the shores of Lake Superior, 
as well as on the islands in it. Father Dablon, in 
his Chronicle for 1669-70, thus refers to the Island 
of Michipicoten : " After entering the Lake the 
first place met with containing copper is an island 



156 Across Lake Superior, 

about forty or fifty leagues from the Sault, towards 
the North Shore, opposite a place called Missipi- 
cooatong (Michipicoten.) The savages relate that 
it is a floating island, being sometimes near and 
and at others afar off. A long time ago four 
savages landed there, having lost their way in a 
fog, with which the island is frequently sur- 
rounded. It was previous to their acquaintance 
with the French, and they knew nothing of the 
nse of kettles and hatchets. In cooking their 
meals, as is usual among the savages, by heating 
stones and casting them into a birch-bark pail 
containing water, they found that they were 
almost all copper. After having completed their 
meal, they hastened to re-embark, for they were 
afraid of the lynxes and hares, which here grow to 
the size of dogs. They took with them copper stones 
and plates, but had hardly left the shore before 
they heard a loud voice exclaiming in an angry 
tone 'who are the thieves that carry off the cradles 
and the toys of my children ? ' They were very 
much surprised at the sound, not knowing whence 
it came. One said it was the thunder ; another 
that it was a certain goblin called Missibizi, the 
spirit of the waters, like Neptune among the 
heathen ; another that it came from theMemogoris- 
sioois, who are marine men, living constantly under 
the water, like the Tritons and Syrens, having long 
hair reaching to the waist, and one of the savages 
asserted that he had actually seen such a being. At 
any rate, this extraordinary voice produced such 
fear that one of them died before landing ; shortly 
after^ two others died, and one alone reached home, 



Discoveries of Copper. 157 

who, after having related what had happened, also 
died. Since that time, the savages have not dared to 
visit the Island, or even to steer in that direction." 
Father Dablon concludes by saying that it is 
commonly believed by the savages that the Island 
contains an abundance of copper. He also gives 
a rational explanation of the phenomena which so 
terrified the savages as to make them shun the 
spot. The heated stones containing copper which 
they put into their birch-bark pail may have 
poisoned the meat and caused the deaths of the 
eaters; the supernatural voice may have been an 
echo of their own, while the apparent vanishing 
and reappearance of the Island may have been 
due to fleeting fogs. 

It is noteworthy that, while the- existence of 
minerals was known to the savages who lived 
near Lake Superior and was made known by the 
first European explorers of that Lake and its 
vicinity, the working of the mineral deposits was 
not begun l^iere till nearly two centuries later. 
Stranger still it was ascertained that a race far 
older than the savages with whom the Jesuit 
Fathers conversed, a race of which little more is 
now known than that it existed, must have been 
extracting copper from the mines at Lake Su- 
perior long before Columbus set forth to discover 
a new world. These people are supposed to be 



158 Across Lake Superior, 

Mound Builders ; in tlie Mounds which are their 
only memorials, copper ornaments have been found. 
The Indians inhabiting the country had no know- 
ledge of mining and no skill in working metals. 

In the winter of 1847-8 a most curious dis- 
covery was made at the place on the South Shore 
of the Lake, near the Ontonagan River, where 
the Minnesota mine is situated. There Mr. Knapp 
discovered the remains of old workings, and found 
a mass of native copper, ten feefc long, three feet 
wide, nearly two feet thick, and weighing six tons. 
The earth has been carefully excavated on all 
sides, but the metallic mass proved too heavy to 
be removed. In the vicinity were stone hammers, 
copper knives and chisels and wooden bowls for 
baling out water. Had not the copper been de- 
posited here in its native or pure state these 
ancient people could not have mined it. Yet their 
operations, though rude, were most ingenious and 
they were a people which had made a greater 
step in the direction of civilization than the Indians 
who succeeded and supplanted them. 

While the citizens of the United States have 
carried on Copper-mining at Lake Superior with 
great energy and to their pecuniary advantage, 
the copper deposits of the like nature on the 
Canadian side have remained almost untouched. 
The magnitude of the mining operations in this 



Value of Native Copper, . 159 

part of the United States may be understood 
when I add that the amount of metal extracted 
since their beginning is 300,000 tons in weight and 
valued at $ 140,000,000. Several mines have yielded 
profits which may be literally termed fabulous. 
The shareholders in the Calumet and Hecla, for 
instance, receive dividends at the rate of half a 
million sterling annually on an original capital of 
forty thousand pounds sterling, the market price 
of the original capital being about five millions. 
Indeed, the tales about the yield of the gold 
mines of California and Australia, of the silver 
mines on the Comstock lode and at Leadville are 
not more wonderful than the authentic story of the 
Copper-mines of Lake Superior. 

The purity of the Lake Superior native Copper 
is remarkable, being as great as that of the same 
metal found in Japan and in Siberia. The metal 
is pronounced to be chemically pure, leaving no 
residuum when dissolved in pure nitric acid, 
giving no precipitate when the nitric acid solution 
is heated with ammonia, containing no trace of 
arsenic or other volatile metal. For electric 
purposes it is preferred to any other owing to its 
superior conductivity ; hence it commands a higher 
price in the market and hence, too, the process 
of mining this native Copper is more remunera- 
tive than that of mining the sulphurets of Copper. 



i6o Across Lake Superior, 

When I visited the Island of Michipicoten I 
learned that its mineral treasures are attracting 
the attention of capitalists. In addition to de- 
posits of native Copper, resembling those on the 
South Shore of the Lake, deposits of silver and 
nickel have been found. With a supineness which, 
it is difficult to understand and scarcely possible 
to justify, the Canadians allow strangers to reap 
the profits which, the mines in this part of their 
territory can easily be made to yield. I was told 
that a company formed in the United States 
had acquired several acres of land on this 
Island where they were mining for native Copper 
and that their preliminary operations had been 
eminently satisfactory. Still better results were 
anticipated by the Quebec and Lake Superior 
Mining Company which had acquired ten square 
miles of land on the Island. I was unaware at 
the time of my visit to the Island that the share- 
holders in that Company were indisposed to 
furnish the capital wherewith to erect machinery, 
so as to profit by the explorations which demon- 
strated that their property was as rich in native 
Copper as other remunerative properties on the 
United States side of the Lake. Several months 
later I returned to England where I learned that 
a Company called the Michipicoten Native Copper 
Company had been formed, that Mr. W. W. Stuart, 



Copper Mining Companies, 161 

the Cliairman of the Quebec and Lake Superior 
Mining Company, having purchased the majority 
of the shares, had transferred his interest in 
ten square miles of the Island of Michipicoten to 
the English Company for a sum of 50,000Z. in 
fully paid up shares, these shares not to rank for 
dividend till the subscribers of money had received 
all their capital back out of profits. I was im- 
pressed with the stories which I heard on the spot 
and read about the mineral riches of Michipico- 
ten Island. I was also struck with the unusually 
favourable terms on which the English Company 
had acquired a property there, and I thought I 
should not act foolishly in becoming a share- 
holder in a Company which not only promised so 
much, as is the rule in mining companies, but which 
appeared likely to be one of the companies which 
supplement promise with performance. Other 
Companies will doubtless be formed to bring to 
the surface and . divide among shareholders the 
riches which lie below the surface of Michipicoten. 
Nor is the mineral wealth confined to the islands 
in the Lake. The J^orth Shore also is rich in 
copper and silver ; an English company, the 
Lake Superior Native Copper Company, is now 
working a property at Maimainse, in Batchewaung 
Bay, where the Copper in the ore amounts to 
69 per cent, while, in addition, the ore contains 

M 



1 62 Across Lake Stiperior. 

silver to tlie value of 36 ounces per ton: Silver 
Islet was the next place at wliicli tlie Frances 
Smith stopped. The passage from Michipicoten 
Island to that spot was made in most disagree- 
able circumstances. A storm of thunder and 
lightning raged for five hours ; seldom have I seen 
so much and such vivid lightning ; never have I 
seen rain fall so heavily ; the water descended in 
sheets. The storm began at 6 o'clock in the 
eVening ; early on the following morning the liain 
ceased, the wind lulled and the sea gradually went 
down. A dense fog covered the water. About 
8 o'clock in the morning while looking towards 
the bow, I heard the roar of surf and I saw rocks 
not far distant on the port side. Captain Robert- 
son, who was on the look-out, at once ordered the 
engines to be reversed, and the steamer began to 
go astern iii time to prevent any mischief. A 
delay of a few minutes would have rendered a 
catastrophe unavoidable. It is improbable that 
any one would have survived to tell the tale had 
the vessel first struck upon the rocks and then gone 
down in the deep, icy cold water. The coolness 
and rapidity with which Captain Eobertson acted 
were appreciated by the passengers. It was with a 
tinge of incredulity, however, that they heard him 
avow he had expected to meet with rocks at the very 
place where they loomed ominously through the fog. 



Mineral Riches. 1 63 

A few years ago a Montreal Company was 
seeking: for silver on an Islet about a mile from 
tlie mainland. Having discovered tliat tlie rock 
was ricli in silver the Company sold the property 
to a few citizens of the United States. These 
gentlemen have since then taken silver out of this 
small rock to the value of two miUion dollars. 
The Islet is a mass of rich silver ore ; it is esti- 
mated that eighteen million dollars' worth of 
silver may yet be extracted from it. The search 
for silver on other islands, such as Isle Roy ale, 
Pie Island, McKellars Island, as well as on the 
mainland is actively pursued by many persons 
who have made valuable discoveries. Indeed, 
the prevailing opinion is that the mineral deposits 
around Lake Superior and on the islands in it are 
extensive and rich beyond calculation. 

After leaving Silver Islet the steamer enters 
Thunder Bay, a sheet of water twenty miles in 
diameter, girded with lofty heights and guarded 
at its entrance by Thunder Cape, a rugged rocky 
headland rising 1350 feet above the surface of 
the Lake. The cliffs of Thunder Cape extend 
in unbroken surface for a distance of seven miles. 
"When the tempest howls around this mass of 
rock the echoes reverberate like claps of thunder. 
The Indians believed the noise to be the voice of 
the Great Spirit, Nana-bijoo, speaking to them 

M 2 



164 ■ Across Lake Stiperior. 

from out of his dwelling in tlie clouds. The ex- 
planation of the tradition is that a volcano at the 
summit, now extinct, once belched forth fire and 
lava. A grander or more impressive spectacle 
than that presented at this spot it is scarcely pos- 
sible to imagine. Prince Arthur's Landing is a 
town on the mainland at which the steamer calls, 
and here the cattle, which had suffered mucli 
during the voyage and had caused the passengers 
no slight discomfort, are sent on shore. The town 
itself dates from the time that Sir Garnet Wolseley 
started from this place at the head of the Red 
Eiver Expedition to suppress Louis Kiel's re- 
bellion in Manitoba. Prince Arthur's Landing is 
a Lake port of the Canadian Pacific Railway, com- 
peting with Fort "William to the South as the 
terminus of the line. "The town has a thousand 
inhabitants. It supports two weekly newspapers, 
one being the Thunder Bay Sentinel, the other the 
North Shore Miner, The purpose of the latter is 
to chronicle the prospects and progress of mining 
in this region. It contains highly eulogistic 
articles on the mineral wealth of the Islands in 
the Lake and of the mainland. The great demand 
is for capital. Lamentations are indulged in as 
to the indifference of Canadian capitalists to the 
development of the riches which , are buried 
underground, and the remark is made that '' the 



Silver^ Coppery a7id Iron Deposits, 165 

American capitalist is tlie one on whom we must 
depend for tlie development of our ricli resources. 
There are no Canadians who have the push and 
stamina sufficient for the purpose." A Frenchman, 
Baron de Guichainville, who has taken up his abode 
at Prince Arthur's Landing, is labouring to induce 
his countrymen to invest money in a fish-canning 
establishment there and also in various mining 
enterprises. In addition to the deposits of silver 
and copper which have excited much attention 
and enriched many persons, this region abounds 
in vast deposits of iron ore which may prove as 
remunerative when extracted and smelted as 
mines of silver or gold. 

Not far from Prince Arthur'^ Landing stands 
Fort William, an older settlement on the Kami- 
nistiquia Eiver where the Hudson Bay Company 
have long had a trading-post. The rivalry between 
the inhabitants of the two places is extreme. In 
each place it seems to be an article of faith 
that the rival must speedily decay and that the 
one which remains will increase rapidly in wealth 
and population. There is ample room and oppor- 
tunity for both. After a ten hours' sail through 
scenery of great beauty and variety, the head of 
Lake Superior is reached and the steamer is 
moored at the wharf of Duluth, the ambitious 
city which it was supposed would rival Chicago in 



1 66 Across Lake Superior . 

quickness of growth, whicli is one of the best 
puffed cities on the North American Continent 
and which is styled bj its self-satisfied and 
grandiloquent inhabitants, " the Zenith City of 
the Unsalted Seas." 



CHAPTER VII. 

DULUTH TO WINNIPEG. 

Twenty years ago a few enterprising and sanguine 
men settled on the site of Duluth and resolved to 
found a city wMch should excite the astonisliment 
and admiration of mankind. They were also 
prompted by the desire to eclipse the city at the 
head of Lake Superior which then seemed destined 
to become a place of importance. They partially 
succeeded in tbeir project. It is unquestionable 
that Duluth has thriven more rapidly than Superior 
city with yhich it has maintained a constant 
rivalry from the outset. Yet the stranger whose 
expectations are very moderate will be the least 
disappointed witb Dulutb. Eleven churches and 
a few houses scattered upon a hillside are all that 
meets the eye when tbe city is approached from 
the Lake. There is a main street in it contain- 
ing stores and hotels ; there are side streets con- 
taining many unoccupied building-sites; there 



1 68 Diihith to Winnipeg, 

are said to be 5000 people in the city, yet nothing 
is visible wbicti produces a stronger impression 
on a new-comer tlian that made on the least 
observant stranger by the sight of other preten- 
tious and quite as populous cities in the United 
States or Canada. It must be apparent, however, 
to the careful observer that Duluth possesses 
natural advantages which almost justify the hopes 
and boasts of its founders. This city is the 
natural depot for tralB&c by way of the Lakes to 
the interior of the Continent. The opening of 
new railways to the west has had the effect of 
increasing that traffic and such increase must 
continue to benefit Duluth. 

Cairo on the Mississippi, the "Eden" where 
Martin Chuzzlewit nearly lost his life, is com- 
monly supposed to have been more cleverly and 
jrpstly ridiculed in its younger days than any 
other city in the United States. Quite as much 
ridicule has-been cast upon Duluth and nothing 
has served it so well. None of the advantages 
which, this city owes to Nature have helped to 
make it so attractive as the speech in the United 
States Congress which Mr. Proctor Knott, a 
representative of Kentucky, delivered in February, 
1871, a speech which was designed to scout its 
pretensions and to make it the laughing-stock of 
the country. Whenever the conductors of Duluth 



Mr, Proctor Knott's Speech, 169 

newspapers are at loss for sometliing wlierewitli 
to fill and enliven their columns, a condition of 
things which appears to be not infrequent, they 
reprint Mr. Proctor Knott's speech and, when- 
ever the citizens have nothing better to do, which 
appears to be a common occurrence also, they re- 
read it with unconcealed satisfaction. Mr. Knott 
made for himself a reputation for oratory by this 
one speech, resembling that which was made in 
the House of Commons by the member who was 
not quite accurately nick-named" Single Speech '*^ 
Hamilton. Mr. Knott's effort is a striking' 
example of that mock heroic vein which is sup- 
posed to be the forte of Western orators. It made 
him and Duluth the subject of general talk and 
celebrity, if it did not confer upon both lasting 
fame. It was directed against an application for 
a grant of land from the national domain which he 
fancied would advance the growth and foster the 
prosperity of Duluth. A few extracts will show 
the character of a speech which produced a more 
lasting impression than hundreds which have been 
addressed to Cougress in our day and which no 
sane person would dream of reprinting from the 
volumes in which they are consigned to oblivion 
at a large cost to the country. After a laboured 
introduction Mr. Knott said : " Years ago, when I 
first heard that there was somewhere in the vast 



1 70 Duluth to Wimiipeg, 

terra incognita^ somewhere in the bleak regions of 
the Northwest, a stream of water known to the 
nomadic inhabitants of the neighbonrhood as the 
river St. Croix, I became satisfied that the con- 
struction of a railway from that raging torrent to 
some point in the civilized world was essential to 
the happiness and prosperity of the American 
people, if not absolutely indispensable to the per- 
petuity of republican institutions on this Continent. 
I felt instinctively that the boundless resources of 
that prdific region of sand and pine shrubbery 
would never be fully developed without a railway 
constructed and equipped at the expense of the 
Grovernment, and perhaps not then. ... Who 
will have the hardihood to rise in his seat on this 
floor and assert that, excepting the pine bushes, the 
entire region would not produce vegetation enough 
in ten years to fatten a grasshopper ? . . . I had 
been satisfied for years that if there was any por- 
tion of the habitable globe absolutely in a suffering 
condition for want of a railroad, it was the teem- 
ing pine barrens of the St. Croix. At what 
particular point on that noble stream such a road 
should be commenced I knew was immaterial, 
and so it seems to have been considered by the 
draughtsman of this bill. It might be up at the 
spring, or down at the foot-log, or the water- 
gate or the fish-dam, or anywhere on the bank, no 
matter where. But in what direction it should run 
or where it should terminate were always in my 
mind questions of the most painful perplexity. . . 
I was utterly at a loss to determine where the 
terminus of this great and indispensable road 



Delights of Duhtth, 1 7 1 

should be, until I accidentally oyerheard some 
gentleman the other day mention the name of 
'Duluth.' Duluth! the word fell upon my ear 
■with peculiar and indescribable charm, like the 
gentle murmur of a low fountain stealing forth in 
the midst of roses, or the soft sweet accents of an 
angel's whisper in the bright joyous dream of 
sleeping innocence. Duluth ! 'Twas the name for 
which my soul had panted for years, as a hart 
panteth for the water- brooks. But where was 
Duluth? Never, in my limited reading, had my 
vision been gladdened by seeing the celestial word 
in print. And I felt a profound humiliation in my 
ignorance that its dulcet syllables had never before 
ravished my dehghted ear. I was certain that the 
draughtsman of this bill had never heard of it, 
or it would have been designated as one of the 
termini of this road. . . . Yet, sir, had it not been 
for this map kindly furnished me by the Legisla- 
ture of Minnesota, I might have gone down to my 
obscure and humble grave in an agony of despair, 
because I could nowhere find Duluth. . . . The 
fact is, sir, that Duluth is pre-eminently a central 
place, for I have been told by gentlemen who have 
been so reckless of their personal safety as to ven- 
ture away in those awful regions where Duluth is 
supposed to be, that it is so exactly in the centre 
of the visible universe that the sky comes down 
at precisely the same distance all around it. . . . 
Then, sir, there is the climate of Duluth, unques- 
tionably the most salubrious and delightful to be 
found anywhere on the Lord's earth. Now, I 
have always been under the impression, as I 



172 Dtiluth to Winnipeg, 

presume other gentlemen have, that in the region 
around Lake Superior, it was cold enough for at 
least nine months in a year to freeze the smoke- 
stack off a locomotive. But I see it represented 
on this map that Duluth is situated exactly half- 
way between the latitudes of Paris and Venice, so 
that gentlemen who have inhaled the exhilarating 
airs of the one or basked in the golden sunlight 
of the other, may see at a glance that Duluth 
must be a place of untold delights, a terrestrial 
paradise fanned by the balmy zephyrs of an eternal 
spring, clothed with gorgeous sheen of ever- 
blooming flowers and vocal with silver melody of 
Nature's choicest songsters. . . . Sir, I might 
stand here for hours and hours, and expatiate 
upon' the gorgeous prospects of Duluth, as de- 
picted on this map. But human life is far too 
short and the time of this House far too valuable 
to allow me to linger longer upon the delightful 
theme. I think every gentleman on this floor is 
as well satisfied as I am that Duluth is destined 
to become the commercial metropolis of the Uni- 
verse, and that this road should be built at once. 
. . . Nevertheless, sir, it grieves my soul to be 
compelled to say that I cannot vote for the grant 
of lands provided for in this bill. . , . These 
lands, which I am asked to give away, alas, are 
not mine to bestow ! My relation to them is 
simply that of trustee to an express trust. And 
shall I ever betray that trust ? Never, sir ! 
Rather perish Duluth ! Perish the paragon of 
cities ! Pather let the freezing cyclones of the bleak 
Northwest bury it for ever beneath the eddying 



Geographical Ignorance, 1 73 

sands of tlie St. Croix." The speecli from wliicli 
the foregoing extracts are taken has been pro- 
nounced *' the most amusing speech ever made in 
the American Congress;" it gave its author a 
reputation which he has not adequately sustained. 
But the most curious thing is the ignorance of 
geography shown in it ; if a foreigner had made 
half the number of blunders with which Mr. Knott 
is chargeable, he would be held up to scorn in 
hundreds of newspapers throughout the Union, 
and pronounced a being unworthy to live. If Mr. 
Knott had spoken about the St. Louis River, his 
remarks would have had some cogency ; if the St. 
Croix Eiver were to swallow up Duluth it would 
have to begin by making a journey across Lake 
Superior. Intending to ban Duluth, Mr. Knott 
succeeded in blessing it most effectively. The 
bill which was thrown out, owing to his speech, 
was opposed by the friends of Duluth, and was 
supported by the friends of Superior City, of 
which it was the rival. Indeed, to repeat what I 
have said and to do so in the grateful words of a 
Duluth newspaper, Mr. Proctor Knott's speech 
" gave Duluth the best advertisement she ever 
had." 

For a year before, and for three years after this 
speech was delivered, the city was in a state of 
feverish activity. In the spring of 1870, every 



174 Duluth to Winnipeg, 

boat that arrived swarmed with passengers and 
every stage-coach was over-crowded. A railway 
was in construction to St. Paul, the capital of the 
State and Mr. Jay Cooke had projected the 
Northern Pacific railway which was to run from 
Lake Superior to Puget Sound on the Pacific. 
Mr. Jay Cooke suspended payment in 1873 and a 
panic spread to Duluth from the financial centres 
of the United States; real property fell to one- 
fourth of its former price and then, as an eye- 
witness wrote, " for a few months, there was as 
much of a stamjpede from Duluth as there had 
formerly been of a rush to the place." 

A worse fate than being buried '' beneath the 
eddying sands of the St. Croix River" was reserved 
for " the Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas." In 
the days of its prosperity, money had been bor- 
rowed and expended in a reckless fashion : when 
the panic subsided, the citizens who remained 
behind, found themselves face to face with 
municipal bankruptcy. ' Not till 1879 was a com- 
promise effected whereby the creditors agreed to 
cancel one-fourth of the amount due to them. 
The most significant sign of the depression then 
prevailing in Duluth, and the circumstance most 
deplored by many citizens, was the publication 
of the newspapers once a week instead of every 
day. There are two weeklies now. The Tribune 



Maiitifactures and Trade, 175 

and Tlie Lake Sii'perior News, Should the revival 
in trade continue, a daily newspaper, that neces- 
sary of existence according to western ideas, may 
again be reissued here. Certainly, the confidence 
in tlie city'sfutare wliich had vanislied,has returned 
in full measure and speculation in land is renewed 
in the old style. During my visit I learned that 
pieces of land which could scarcely be sold for 
$500 six months- before were then easily saleable 
at $1500. 

Several sawmills and a blast furnace are in active 
operation ; an industry paying those who take 
part in it very well is collecting the sand on the 
shore of the Lake and despatching it to glass- 
making works, where it is in demand. There is a 
large elevator for the transhipment of grain and 
there are well-built docks for the accommodation of 
shipping. Indeed, Duluth is not only doing a large 
trade now, but has made full provision for future 
expansion. 

The additional traffic carried over the Northern 
Pacific Railway when its construction was resumed 
benefited the trade of this place, while the emi- 
gration to Manitoba has had the like effect. The 
Canadian Government have erected a home for 
the emigrants who halt here on their way to 
Manitoba. It is under the intelligent and atten- 
tive supervision of Mr. Grahame, the Canadian 



176 Duluth to Winnipeg. 

Emigration ^gent. He told me tliat tlie immi- 
grants are often very exacting and are generally 
very dirty and that those among them who were 
most stinted in their means and living before they 
left home, develope the most luxurious tastes 
after crossing the ocean. 

An express train starts once daily from Duluth 
for Winnipeg. It is not long since the passengers 
who started for the same destination could not 
travel farther by rail than Fisher's Landing, on 
Eed Lake River, the average time taken being a 
week. Now, the journey between the " Zenith 
City of the Unsalted Seas " and the Capital 
of Manitoba can be made in twenty-seven hours. 
The scenery is very beautiful on part of the line 
skirting the left bank of the river St. Louis. 
The. '' Dalles of the St. Louis " are as striking as 
those of the Columbia Eiver, though on a smaller 
scale. Within the space of four miles the river 
descends 400 feet, passing over serrated rocks 
which are enclosed between high banks, the ap- 
pearance being that of a series of small and long 
drawn out cataracts surging downwards. 

At Glyndon the passengers for Manitoba change 
to the St. Paul and Manitoba line, while those for 
the l^orthern Pacific continue their journey west- 
wards. There is a second change at St. Vincent, 
the frontier city between Canada and the United 



Land Speculators. 177 

States, to the Pembina branch of the Canadian 
Pacific Railway^ I have made this trip several 
times without finding many things worthy of record 
and I have been quite as unfortunate after having 
spent a night at Glyndon. Yet emigrants who 
pass over the hne are kept in a state of pleasing 
excitement from the time they quit Canadian 
territory till the time they re-enter it. Land 
agents and speculators are accustomed to- travel 
backwards and forwards in order to persuade the 
emigrants to make their new homes in the United 
States. These persons commonly assume the 
characters of disappointed Englishmen who, hav- 
ing tried Manitoba, left it in disgust, and have 
found a genuine Eden on United States soil. 
As the profits of these agents are not small when 
they manage to sell the land belonging to the 
Company with which they are connected, they 
are naturally disposed to make representations of 
greater strength than trustworthiness in order to 
effect sales. 

I can write from personal experience in this 
matter. It was erroneously thought by a w^orthy 
gentleman that I was on the way to settle in 
Manitoba and might be induced to settle in Minne- 
sota instead. He told me that many English 
families were expected to arrive and take up their 
abodes on the prairie lands of Northern Minne- 

N 



178 Duluth to Winnipeg, 

sota and tliat the represePitative of an Eng^lisli 
Company was in negotiation with the St. Paul 
and Manitoba railway company for 56,000,000 
acres. There had been a slight hitch in the nego- 
tiations, but my informant added " I guess that 
will be fixed." He explained that the gentleman 
flesired the Company to let him have the land at 
$4 an acre and to insert in the deed of sale that 
the price paid was $8. This gentleman could 
then make sales in England at a professedly slight 
advance upon what he had actually paid, while 
his real profit would be more than double. I was 
cognizant of a flagrant case in which ignorant 
persons in England had been made to pay $25 an 
acre for Minnesota land which could have been 
bought on the spot for less than $4. I found 
that the gentleman who was negotiating with the 
St. Paul and Manitoba Railway for 56,000,000 
and who was said to have 170 families waiting 
to be transported thither from England in the 
following spring bore the same name as the one 
who had disposed of land in another part of the 
country at an enormous profit to himself. I 
learned also that a second Englishman who was 
very active in recommendiug Minnesota as the 
best place to which his countrymen could emigrate, 
had been trying to establish a land Company, but 
had failed owing to insisting not only upon a large 



A Hint to Emigrants, 179 

commission, but upon a double commission. I do 
not question tile advantage of choosing Minnesota 
as a place of residence. It may be quite true, 
as is alleged, that the land in the North-western 
part of that State is superior to that in the South- 
west of Manitoba, even though an imaginary line 
is the only separation between them. The soil 
may be affected in some occult way by the nation- 
ality of the flag flying over it. Yet, after assuming 
for the sake of argument, the truth of everything 
that I have heard in favour of this part of the 
Continent, I still maintain that no folly can be 
greater than buying land here on the representa- 
tions of a third party, and that those purchasers 
of land will have least reason to repent them of 
their bargains who enter into no contract and make 
no payment till they have seen the land with their 
own eyes. 



IT 2 



CIIAPTEE VIII. 

ON THE EED EIVER OF THE IJORTH. 

Although tlie trip to Manitoba hj rail tlirongb. 
United States territory is generally uninteresting, 
yet the trip by water is sometimes diversified by' 
incident. The railway attracts all the passengers 
in winter; but the steamers on the Red River 
of the North are eagerly patronized during 
the summer time. Having made the trip all the 
way by rail and partly by rail and partly by water, 
I can affirm from experience that, by journeying 
partly by rail and partly by water, an adequate 
notion can be formed of the country and its insects, 
while much more can be learned about the people. 
Besides, the Red River is a stream of sufficient 
volume and importance to deserve notice. Com- 
pared with the Mississippi, the Red River of the 
North appears insignificant. Nevertheless, as its 
length from Elbow Lake, in which it rises, to Lake 
Winnipeg into which it flows^ is 900 miles, it merits 
a place among the great rivers of the world. 



Course of the Red River, 1 8 1 

Two RedEiyers are numbered among tlie notable 
streams of the Nortli American Continent. One 
of them rises in the Territory of Kew Mexico, 
flows through the States of Texas, Arkansas, and 
Louisiana, and, joining the Mississippi,helps to swell 
the volume of themightyflood which the Father of 
Waters pours into the Gulf of Mexico. The other, 
which is known as the Red River of the North, rises 
in Elbow Lake, in the State of Minnesota. Its 
source is not far distant from Lake Itaska, which 
is the fountain-head of the Mississippi. Though 
that river's course is southward and the course of 
'the Mississippi is northward when both streams 
first issue from their parent lakes, yet they soon 
follow the direction which they keep till their race 
is run. The Reel River, in its northerly progress, 
divides the Territory of Dakota from the State of 
Minnesota; it enters the. Canadian Province of 
Manitoba at Fort Pembina ; it passes by the city 
of Winnipeg, the capital of that Province, where 
it is joined by the Assineboine, flowing from the 
west ; it enters Lake Winnipeg, whence it issues 
uuder the" name of Nelson River; and, finally, it 
finds its level and a last resting-place in the icy 
waters of Hudson's Bay. The valley bearing the 
same name through which it runs is still more 
remarkable than the Red River itself. For a space 
which is 400 miles in length by 70 in breadth, that 



1 82 On the Red River of the North, 

valley is tlie finest wheat-growing tract on tlie 
continent of North America, if not on the habitable 
globe. 

Farming on a scale nnparalleled except in 
California is prosecuted in the Red River Valley. 
This dates from the year 1875, wlien several 
capitalists bought vast tracts of land there. Mr. 
B. P. Cheney, of Boston, and Mr. Oliver 
Dairy mple, of St. Paul, purchased 5000 acres of 
wdiich 3500 were under cultivation in 1879. In 
1877 they harvested 42,000 bushels of wheat, 6000 
of oats, and 3000 of barley. The machinery on 
this farm comprises 40 ploughs, 16 seeders, 40 
harrows, 16 harvesters, 3 steam thrashing 
machines, and 3 portable steam-engines. As many 
as a hundred men are employed at the busiest 
season. Mr. Cass has a farm of 6000 acres, 
nearly the whole of which is sown with wheat. 
Large though these farms are, yet they seem small 
in comparison with that belonging to Mr. William 
Dalrymple ; it covers 30 square miles. The area 
sown with wheat in 1878 was 20,900 acres; the 
yield was 250,000 bushels. Seventy-five reaping 
and binding machines were used to harvest the 
crop, the work being done at the rate of 1000 
acres a day. This farm is managed on the plan 
of a factory. It is divided into sections of 2000 
acres, over each of which an overseer is placed ; 



Ma77tmotk Farms, i %2) 

lie carries out the orders of Mr. Dalrymple jiist as 
a Brioaclier- General carries out the orders of the 
Commander-in-Chief of an army. Comfortable 
dwelHngs are provided for the overseers, while 
there is a boarding-house for the accommodation 
of the farm-labourers. Each section has its 
granary, stables, machine-shop, and engine-house. 
Indeed, the vast estate is really divided into a 
number of separate farms, each complete in itself, 
and all subject to a common head. Four hundred 
and fifty labourers and upwards of three hundred 
horses and mules are employed on this f arm ; 
three bookkeepers are required to register the 
accounts, and two cashiers to receive and disburse 
the money. Indeed the whole arrangements are 
designed to assimilate the production of grain to 
the operations of a manufactory. The idyllic side 
of farming has no place here. The farmer is a 
capitalist ; the farm-labourer is called a " hand " 
and treated as one. Advocates of spade-husbandry 
will see nothing to admire in this wholesale method 
of cultivating the soil, and they will maintain that 
if this system should grow in favour, the day 
must arrive when, in the United States as in 
certain European countries, there will be a perma- 
nent and rigid separation between the tillers of 
the soil and its owners. However, while land 
continues as plentiful and as easily acquired in 



1 84 On the Red River of the North, 

JSTorth. America as it was in Europe during tlie 
Middle Ages, wlien the existing large estates were 
formed in England, tlie citizens of the United 
States will disregard gloomy forebodings and will 
continue to lavish their admiration upon a success- 
ful capitalist like Mr. Dalrymple. His farm is a 
common topic of glorification among the citizens 
of the new North- West, and of admiring envy 
among the dwellers in less fertile parts of the land. 
My present purpose is not to linger and describe 
what may be observed on the Red Eiver within 
the United States, but to journey along it to the 
Canadian Province of Manitoba. That river is 
the silent highway of intercourse between the 
citizens of the Union and the citizens of the 
British Empire. A few years ago an Indian 
canoe was the only kind of boat which traversed 
its surface. Now steam vessels pass backwards 
and forwards between St. Vincent, a station of 
the St. Paul and Manitoba Railway and the capital 
of Canada's Prairie Province. There has been a 
settlement of British subjects on this river since 
the year 1812. Then the Earl of Selkirk, chair- 
man of the Hudson's Bay Company, induced 
Highlanders, who could not live in comfort on 
their native heath, to seek a new home in the 
heart of the North American Continent. Nearly 
half a century after this settlement was formed, 



By Water to Winnipeg. 185 

Dr. Eae, the famous Arctic explorer, iDformed a 
Select Committee of tlie House of Commons tliat 
about two months were required to journey from 
Toronto, in Upper Canada, to the Red River Settle- 
ment in Rupert's Land. The Earl of Southesk, who 
went to hunt in the Hudson's Bay Territory in 
1859, saw a steamer on tlie Red River for the 
first time. In 1862 the late Lord Milton and 
Dr. Cheadle experienced on the Red River a pain- 
ful foretaste of the perils which had to be faced 
and surmounted before they could begin their 
toilsome journey across the North-Western Wil- 
derness. Finding that the steamer sailed but once 
a fortnight, and not caring to wait for it, they 
started down the rapid stream in a canoe, and 
endured extraordinary hardships before they 
reached Fort Garry. Eight years latter Captain 
Butler was commissioned by Colonel (now Sir 
Garnet) Wolseley, the chief of the expedition which 
was sent to suppress Riel's rebellion, to proceed 
to Winnipeg through the United States. He 
passed along the Red River in the steamer Inter' 
national^ and suffered by the way as others have 
done before and since. The tale of his misery 
is graphically told in " The Great Lone Land." 

The inconvenience of this route caused the 
Government of Canada to devise another within 
the Hmits of the Dominion. This was known 



1 86 On the Red River of the No7^th. 

as the Dawson route. A traveller over it, wlio 
started from Thunder Bay, on Lake Superior, 
reached Fort Garry in the course of three weeks. 
The Red River expedition, under Sir Garnet 
"Wolseley, which first passed over this part of 
the country, took three months to make the 
same trip. As the Dawson route proved unre- 
munerative to its promoters, it has long ceased 
to be a regular pathway for traffic and travel 
between the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. 
The traveller who started from the capital of the 
former province for that of the latter either went 
to Chicago by rail, thence by another line of 
railway to St. Paul and Fisher's Landing, where 
he stepped on board a steamer which carried him 
to his destination, or else he took the train to the 
shore of Lake Superior, where he embarked in a 
steamer for Duluth ; thence he proceeded by rail 
to Fisher's Landing, and by steamer to Winnipeg. 
But, whichever route was chosen, the time occu- 
pied was not less than 11 days, so that Manitoba 
remained as far apart from the Eastern Provinces 
of the Dominion as Canada is from England. 
My first trip to Manitoba was made by rail from 
St. Paul to Fisher's Landing, thence by water 
to Winnipeg. Since tlien the landing-place has 
been changed to St. Vincent, thus saving the 
tedious navigation of Red Lake River. 



Lake Minnetonka, 187 

In tlie spring, wlien the river is in flood, tlie 
600 miles which separate the two places can be 
traversed in 48 hours. In the autumn the river 
is very low and then the passage is very tedious. 
The return voyage which I made occupied five 
days and nights. The first part of the journey 
northwards is easy and pleasant. Leaving the 
capital of Minnesota by the St. Paul and 
Manitoba Eailway at 5 o'clock in the evening, 
the passenger reaches Fisher's Landing shortly 
before noon the following day. Twenty-five 
miles from the starting-place a stoppage is made 
at Wayzata, on Lake Minnetonka. This Lake is 
one of the natural attractions of the State of 
Minnesota, ; it excites even greater admiration 
than the falls of Minnehaha, which owe much of 
their popularity to Mr. Longfellow's poetry. The 
Lake consists of a series of bays, each of which is 
a lake in miniature, and many are studded with 
wooded islands. There are 25 of these bays. The 
Lake is navigable for a length of 17 miles. In 
olden time it was the favourite haunt of Dakota 
Indians ; they encamped on its margin or on one 
of its islands. They caught fish in the lake, 
gathered wild fruits on the islands, hunted deer 
and other game in the surrounding forests, and 
procured sugar from the maple trees which 
beautified the scene. The places of the wild 



1 88 On the Red River of the North. 

Indians are now filled with thousands of civilized 
tourists, who enjoj themselves during the hot 
months of summer along the shores or on the 
bosom of the lake. As we proceed northward 
there is a change in the aspect of the land. The 
southern part of Minnesota is diversified with 
wood and rising ground ; the northern is genuine 
prairie, extending to the horizon without any- 
thing but a few log houses to vary its flat sur- 
face. 

The monotony of the night journey was broken 
by an incident of which I do not desire a repetition. 
About midnight the car was filled with an acrid 
and stifling odour ; such a smell I had never ex- 
perienced before. If the pungent and nauseous 
effect produced by throwing water upon hot 
cinders were intensified a hundredfold and if all 
the worst stenches were combined with it, the 
result would not equal the reality on this 
occasion. In the morning I learnt that the train 
had passed over a skunk. The small town, called 
Fisher's Landing, from which the steamers started 
was on the model of Western cities. It had two 
hotels, between which there was nothing to 
choose, both being as comfortable and attractive 
as the cabin of an Irish bog-trotter. There were 
several drinking-saloons and one general store ; a 
sensible notice in the latter was to the effect that 



Stern Wheel Steamers, 189 

persons who came to make pm^cliases were more 
welcome than those who merely wished to gossip. 
Fisher's Landing is on the Red Lake River, a 
stream which joins the main one at Grand Forks. 
Steamers plied between it and Winnipeg twice 
weekly between the months of May and Septem- 
ber. The Manitoba was the one in which I went, 
and the Minnesota the one in which I returned. 
They are the property of the Kittson Transpor- 
tation Company. I gladly acknowledge that the 
officials of the company and the officers of the 
steamers did what they could to render the 
voyage as pleasant as possible. The boats are 
unlike anything to be seen in England. Their 
appearance can best be realized by supposing si 
Thames coal-barge to have a deck and two long 
furnaces, with boilers above them, placed near 
the bow, and two steam-engines further aft. 
The engines work a paddle-wheel which is the 
breadth of the boat, and revolves at the stern. 
Above the boilers and engines is a wooden house, 
containing the saloon and state-rooms. The top of 
this house forms the upper deck. Pipes convey- 
ing steam from the boilers to the engines run 
under the thin flooring of the state-rooms, which 
are situated at the sides of the saloon. As the 
thermometer seldom indicated less than 95 deg. 
in the shade during this journey on the Red 



igo On the Red River of the North, 

Eiver, the extra lieat from these steam pipes was 
a superfluity with which the occupants of. the 
state-rooms could easily dispense. 

Though the heat was intolerable almost beyond 
endurance and far in excess of what most of the 
passengers had ever experienced, yet it was not 
the worst infliction. Myriads of hungry and 
ruthless mosquitoes plied their sanguinary trade 
in every corner of the steamboat where a human 
being could be approached. Many black flies 
rivalled them in assiduous efforts to get food and 
inflict pain. At a competitive examination a 
black fly could bear away the prize from a 
mosquito. He bites with greater force and to a 
greater depth, and he clings to the surface of the 
skin with more firmness than a mosquito, while 
the irritation which he leaves behind lasts longer 
and is more painful than that produced by his 
fellow pest. It is a beautiful provision in nature 
that a real or imaginary remedy is provided for 
every plague. Everybody knows that there are 
several " infallible " cures for sea-sickness. Pro- 
vision of the same kind exists for the protection 
of the human skin against the bites of venomous 
insects. A passenger on board the Manitoba was 
the happy possessor of one of these infallible 
remedies. He had being fishing in Labrador, 
where the streams are alive with fish and the air 



Onslaughts of Insects, 191 

is dark witTi stinging insects, and he had been able 
to pursue his sport in comfort by smearing him- 
self with a mixture of tar and sweet oil. He was 
loud in praise of this panacea before the mosqui- 
toes and black flies pounced upon their prey. He 
prepared himself for the onslaught, and he was 
kind enough to allow myself and others to do the 
same by rubbing the skin with the mixture. It 
was not long before he stated with extreme 
emphasis that the insects of the Red River must 
be differently constituted from those of Labrador, 
because what repelled the latter seemed to attract 
the former. 

The distance from Fisher's Landing to Grand 
Forks is 12 miles by land. It is about 50 miles 
by water. The time taken to go between these 
two places when the water is low varies from 18 
to 30 hours. Ten hours were consumed in 
passing over the worst part, the distance being 
four miles. I was surprised, not that the steamer 
made slow progress, but that it made any. The 
river winds to a degree which is unprecedented. 
At few parts is the course a straight one for a 
quarter of a mile in length. What renders the 
navigation more laborious is that a barge, laden 
to the water's edge, is generally lashed alongside 
the steamer ; hence the difficulty of rounding 
sharp curves is materially increased. The stop- 



192 Oji the Red River of the North. 

pages are frequent and tedious. Sometimes they 
are caused by tlie barge and the steamer ground- 
ing on a sboal, and then a rope has to be sent on 
shore, fastened round a tree, and dragged in by 
the steam winch, or "nigger " as it is here called, 
till the tree is torn up by its roots or the steamer 
is moved into deep water. At other times long 
halts are made to repair the stern wheel, the floats 
of which are often broken by striking against the 
bank. It is strange, indeed, that the steamer is 
not seriously injured every voyage. At the 
narrowest and most curved parts of the river the 
steamer's bow is forcibly sent against one bank, 
while its stern is swung round by the force of the 
current, and each shock shakes it from stem to 
stern so terribly as to produce the impression 
that the entire structure must fall to pieces. 

When a steamer runs aground or stops for 
repairs during the day, the cabin-boys, and the 
crew, who are not on daty, set to work and catch 
fish. They use long lines weighted with sinkers ; 
a piece of raw meat forms the bait. Cat-fish, 
gold-eyes, and pike abound in the river, and a 
good catch of fish is often secured during the 
interval of waiting. The anglers and the on- 
lookers are kept awake and excited by the insects, 
which increase in number and energy when the 
vessel is stationary. • If any one is tempted by the 



Sceiiery 07i the Banks, 193 

wild grapes or wild plums to go asliore and pluck 
tliem, he gladly returns on board. Tlie mosquitoes 
are even more plentiful and savage on land than 
on water. On each bank there is a belt of timber ; 
outside this fringe of trees, the prairie stretches its 
apparently illimitable expanse. The wood, which 
comprises elder, oak, box, ash, and elm trees, 
constitutes the supply for fuel and building pur- 
poses over a very large area. Eafts formed oi 
the fallen trees are floated down to Winnipeg, 
where they are broken up and the logs sawn into 
boards. One of the rafts which we passed was 
navigated by a woman ; a man lay in a rude 
structure erected upon it. Household furniture 
was piled up at the sides, the whole being the 
worldly effects of a couple changing their place of 
abode. The man, who had kept watch during 
the night, now slept while his helpmate took her 
turn in steering. 

The steamer stopped at four stations between 
Fisher's Landing and Fort Garry. The first was 
Grand Forks, a town in Dakota Territory ; the 
second Fort Pembina, on the frontier bet^veen 
the United States and Canada; the third West 
Lynn, a Canadian settlement, where is Fort 
Duft'erin, a trading-post of the Hudson Bay 
Company ; and Emerson, on the opposite side of 
the river, which is one of the rising towns of 

o 



194 ^^^ ^^^^ -^^^ Rivei' of the North. 

Manitoba. A flag showing tlie letters H.B.O. in 
white on a red ground was the mark of the Hud- 
son Bay Company being in possession of the fort. 
An American citizen told me that some of his 
countrymen were puzzled when they saw this flag 
for the first time. One of their number thought 
he had solved the engima of the three letters by 
saying that they meant " Here before Christ," as, 
from the appearance of the country, there had not 
been any change since then. 

Sixty miles intervene between the frontier and 
the capital of the Province. There is very little 
wood left along this part of the river, the greater 
part having been cleared away by settlers or by 
speculators. Farms are to be seen at short 
intervals ; the crops which cover the ground look 
exceedingly well. The passengers in the steamer 
experience a change since the stream has run 
between banks denuded of timber — in other words, 
the mosquitoes have ceased from troubling. The 
only insect which skims the surface of the river 
and which fills the saloon when the lamps are Jit 
is a white- winged one called a " miller." I have 
seen these insects on the Rhine iu the autumn 
months, but I never saw so many as on this occa- 
sion. A constant stream of them is borne along 
by the breeze ; it has the appearance of a bank of 
snow. The glasses of the steamer's lanterns are 



First View of Winnipeg, 195 

covered with tlieso insects ; tliey dash against the 
glass and then fall down to die among the mass 
on the deck. They fill pails when the deck is 
swept in the morning. Though they obscure the 
light, they give no other annoyance, and they are 
mere objects of curiosity. 

The first I saw of Winnipeg was in the autumn 
of 1878. Fort Garry, a rectangular building, with 
a turret at each corner, then stood where the Assi- 
niboine enters the Red River. The steamer stopped 
a few minutes to land passengers, the permanent 
landing-place being a short way further down the 
river. The houses which form the city have a 
substantial look ; the villas on the river's bank are 
tasteful in appearance. On the opposite side of 
the river to that on which the capital stands is the 
parish of St. Boniface, with its cathedral, the 
palace of Archbishop Tache, its college, and its 
convent. When Mr. Whittier was here a quarter 
of a century ago the journey down the river in a 
canoe seemed to him a wearisome undertaking. 
He wrote a poem on the " Red River Yoyageur," 
which opens with this vivid and correct descrip- 
tion of the river itself: — 



Out and in the river is winding 
The links of its long, red chain 

Through belts of dusky pine] and. 
And gusty leagues of plain. 

2 



1 96 On the Red River of the North, 

He depicts the ''voyageur," wlien tired and 
exhausted, regaining his spirits and vigour on 
hearing the chime of the bells of St. Boniface. 
Then the poet, as his manner is, ends his verses 
with a comparison and points a moral : — 

Even so in our mortal journey 

The bitter north winds blow, 
And thus upon life's Eed Eiver 

Our hearts, as oarsmen, row. 

And when the Angel of Shadow 
Rests his feet on wave and shore, 

And our eyes grow dim with watching 
And our hearts faint at the oar, 

Happy is he who heareth 

The signal of his release 
In the bells of the Holy City, 

The chimes of eternal " peace.** 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CITS' OF WINNIPEG. 

Winnipeg, tbe capital of Manitoba, surprised me 
more at first sight tlian any one of the countless 
cities which I have visited on the North American 
Continent. The older ones frequently surpassed 
my utmost expectations ; the younger as fre- 
quently fell below the most moderate estimate 
which I had formed of them in imagination. 
Indeed, a pretentious city in the Far West is 
commonly on a par, in external appearance, with 
a paltry village elsewhere. I had read much 
about Winnipeg before visiting it, and the im- 
pression left on my mind was not favourable. 
The Earl of Southesk, who was here in 1859, 
writes that " there were houses enough to form a 
sort of scattered town." Lord Milton and Dr. 
Cheadle, who followed him three years later, saw 
nothing worthy of note. Captain Butler, who 
paid it a visit in 1870, refers to it, in his " Great 



19S The City of Winnipeg, 

Lone Land," as '' the little village," and " tlie 
miserable-looking village of "Winnipeg." I knew 
that changes had been made since Captain Butler 
came hither on duty' connected with the Red 
River expedition under Colonel (now Sir Garnet) 
Wolseley; but I was not prepared to find that 
they had been so great and startling as those 
which I actually beheld. 

Walking down Main-street, on my way to the 
Pacific Hotel, I could hardly realize that I was 
in a city incorporated so recently as 1873 and 
supposed to be far beyond the confines of civiliza- 
tion. The street is 132 ft. wide and it is lined 
with shops, churches, and public buildings which 
would do credit to a much older and more famous 
place. The solid look of the majority of the 
edifices is as noteworthy as their ornamental 
design. They are built of cream-coloured brick. 
It is at a comparatively late stage in the growth 
of a western city, either in the United States or 
Canada, that the buildings are composed of any- 
thing but wood; hence, a stranger in one of them 
is apt to arrive at the conclusion that the build- 
ings are erected for a temporary purpose. Here, 
however, the effect is the reverse. The Town 
Hal] and the Market, the Post Office, the Do- 
minion Land Office, and the Custom House, to 
name but a few of the pubHc edifices, are as sub- 




o 

00 



University of Manitoba, 199 

stantial buildings as can be desired. No one 
looking at them can feel here, as is so commonly 
felt in other places of rapid growth on this conti- 
nent, that the citizens apprehend their city will 
decay as rapidly as it has sprung up. While the 
progress of Winnipeg is one of the marvels of 
the Western world, there is good reason for be- 
lieving that it will continue at an accelerated rate, 
and that Winnipeg will hereafter hold in the 
Dominion of Canada a place corresponding with 
that now held in the United States by Chicago. 
In 1870 there were 300 people in the miserable- 
looking village of those days; now, the popula- 
tion is approaching 15,000. There are eight 
churches — one belonging to the Eoman Catholics, 
three to the EpiscopaHans, one to the Presby- 
terians, two to the Wesleyan Methodists, and one 
to the Baptists. There are several schools and 
colleges — two common schools, St. John's College 
Schools, for boys and for girls ; a Central School ; 
St. Mary's Academy ; Manitoba College, in con- 
nexion with the Presbyterian Church, and a Wes- 
leyan Institute. Most remarkable of all, if not 
altogether exceptional among seminaries for the 
advancement and diffusion of sound learning, is 
the University of Manitoba. It grants degrees 
in arts, sciences, law, and medicine. Its govern- 
ing body is composed of representatives of re- 



200 The City of Winnipeg. 

ligious societies whicli have not succeeded in 
working liarmoniously for a common end in other 
parts either of tlie Old or the New World. The 
colleges affiliated to it are the Episcopal College 
of St. John, the Eoman Catholic College of St. 
Boniface, and the Presbyterian College of Mani- 
toba. Others may and are expected to join a 
University which, if as successful as it deserves 
to be, will become a model for other places, both 
on the North American continent aud on the con- 
tinent of Europe. The governing body consists 
of a Council, composed of a Chancellor and Vice- 
Chancellor, representatives of each college, three 
representatives elected by the graduates, and two 
representatives of the Provincial Board of Educa- 
tion. The first Chancellor chosen to preside over 
the Council is the Bishop of Eupert's Land, and 
the Yice-Chancellor is the Hon. J. Eoyal, the 
Secretary of State for the Province, and a highly- 
respected member of the Catholic Church. Pro- 
vision is made for the colleges affiliated to the 
University granting theological degrees. No ob- 
jection can be raised to this by the most advanced 
and uncompromising educational reformer; in- 
deed, the educational reformer would be hard to 
please, if he were not satisfied with the constitu- 
tion and government of the University of Mani- 
toba. While those persons merit unstinted praise 



Historical and Scientific Society, 201 

wlio liave worked and made no mean sacrifices to 
render the University successful, the Legislature 
of the Province is equally worthy to be held in 
honour for having contributed to aid the experi- 
ment by endowing the University. Thus nothing 
has had to be paid by the colleges which are now 
in connexion with it, nor will those which may 
hereafter become affiliated to it have to provide 
any funds. 

Another institution which I did not expect to 

find in so young a city is the Historical and 

Scientific Society of Manitoba. Though it has 

been only two years in existence, this Society has 

rendered a. service to the Province by collecting 

its records, exploring its Indian mounds aud 

collecting specimens wherewith to illustrate its 

mineralogy and geology. It is unfortunate that 

the Society could not persuade the Hudson Bay 

Company to spare old Fort Garry, instead of 

levelling it to the ground and using the stones to 

form the foundation of a new store. However, 

the Company have wisely presented many volumes 

of records to the Society's library, where they 

will be safely kept, and accessible for study. 

From a personal inspection of the works in the 

library, and the curiosities in the museum, I can 

vouch for a good beginning havmg been made, 

and I have no doubt that, if the members continue 



202 The City of Winnipeg, 

to display tlie same energy, tlie Historical Society 
will prove of infinite advantage to the inhabitants 
of the Canadian Far "West. 

The great width of Main- street, which runs 
north and south, adds to its effect; Portage- 
avenue, which, like it, is 132 ft. wide, runs west, 
and is an important thoroughfare ; Burrow' s- 
avenue is 99 ft. wide ; and the other streets are 
^^ ft. Indeed, the city is laid out with an eye to 
its future increase in population. This is spe- 
cially shown in the care which has been taken to 
secure open spaces, which will prove of much 
benefit when the area is more thickly covered 
with buildings. There are three public parks — 
Victoria, Burrow's, and Mulligan ; the first covers 
eight acres, the second five, and the third three. 
There is a race-course and a rifle range. The 
young men take delight and are very expert in 
rifle- shooting, their ambition being to obtain a 
place in the Canadian team which pays a yearly 
visit to Wimbledon, and there displays a vigorous 
and fraternal rivalry with the volunteers of the 
United Kingdom. Several tall chimneys in diffe- 
rent parts of the city denote the presence of- 
manufactories. I learn that there are two flour 
mills, three saw mills, and four planing mills ; 
that there is a carriage factory, a biscuit and con- 
fectionery bakery, a distillery ; and that there is 



Public Markets. 203 

a brewery five miles distant, where the hops used 
in combination with malt are the wild hops which 
abound in the district and can be obtained by any 
one who chooses to gather them. Hotels of 
various classes are plentifully provided for the 
entertainment of strangers, the Pacific Hotel and 
the Queen's being the two best and largest. The 
public-houses, or saloons as they are called 
throughout the West, are many in number ; they 
are under risrid supervision and each is licensed. 
The licence, which costs $240 annually, is liable 
to forfeiture in the event of the saloon being 
badly conducted. 

The public markets I found well supplied with 
butcher's meat, poultry, game, fish, and vege- 
tables. The fish come from the lakes and the 
rivers, comprising pike, cat-fish, gold eyes and 
white-fish. I have always thought that none 
but persons who are nearly starving can really 
eat pike with any relish. A good imitation pike 
could be manufactured out of white blotting-paper 
with small pieces of fine wire interspersed; on 
being cooked the taste of the fish would be well 
reproduced by the moist blotting-paper, while the 
sensation of finding a sharp bone at each mouth- 
ful would be periectly rendered by the stray 
pieces of wire. One of the fish on the bill of fare 
at the Pacific Hotel bore the name of Eed River 



204 ^'^^^ ^^^y ^f Winnipeg, 

salmon. I tasted it and tliouglit it delicious, 
tliougli not at all like any salmon whicli I had 
eaten. It was quite as rich as salmon and had 
scarcely any bones, resembling a lamprey in this 
respect more closely than any fish with which 
I am acquainted. A travelling-companion was 
quite as much pleased with it as I was. Before 
eating and praising it, he had warned me against 
ever eating the cat-fish, which he had seen taken 
out of the river, and of which he disliked the look 
as well as the name. He was rather surprised to 
learn that he had heartily enjoyed and commended 
cat-fish under the name of Red River salmon. 

The vegetables for sale in the market reminded 
me of stories which I had read at home in the 
months of autumn. ]^o imaginative writer in a 
country newspaper ever penned a paragraph about 
gigantic vegetables that could not be justified by 
the potatoes, cabbages, and turnips which I saw 
for sale here, and others which I have seen se- 
lected for exhibition. It is a common thing for 
potatoes to weigh 2 lbs. each and turnips 20 lbs. 
and for them to be as good as they are heavy. A 
squash has been produced weighing 138 lbs. and 
a vegetable marrow 26. Cabbages measuring 
4 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 1 inch in circumference 
have excited the astonishment of other visitors as 
well as my own, while a cucumber, grown in the 



Frtiit and Flowers. 205 

open air and measuring 6 feet 3 inches in length, 
was rightly considered a curiosity. The display 
of fruit was not equal to that of vegetables, the 
culture of fruit having been neglected owing to 
the supply of wild fruit being so varied and 
abundant. Experiments made in growing apples 
having proved successful, the gardens here will 
soon be filled with fruit-bearing trees. Yet it is 
not wonderful that the early settlers should have 
been satisfied with what Nature has provided for 
them, seeing that they had nothing to do but 
gather and consume an abundance of wild plums, 
grapes, strawberries, currants, red and black 
raspberries, cherries, blueberries, whortleberries, 
marsh and high bush cranberries. If the settlers 
have not busied themselves about the culture of 
fruit, they have not neglected the culture of 
flowers. The little gardens which adorn the 
fronts of the houses are filled with roses, mig- 
nonette, and other flowers dear to English eyes. 
Never have I seen flowers with more brilliant 
tints than those of Manitoba, and the brightness 
of their colours is in keeping with the strength 
and sweetness of their perfume. 

An enumeration of the principal sights in the 
streets of Winnipeg would be incomplete if I 
omitted to mention that it contains many stores 
which for size and variety of the goods kept 



2o6 The City of Winnipeg, 

would do credit to any city, as well as several 
bankin^-lionses, whicli have not only a solid look 
as buildings, but wliicli enjoy the reputation of 
being sound financial establishments. First there 
is the Post-office Savings-bank, where depositors 
receive interest at the rate of 4 per cent., with 
the advantage of perfect security ; secondly, there 
are branches of the Merchants' Bank of Canada, 
of the Ontario Bank, and of the Bank of Montreal. 
In the newest western cities it is customary to 
find churches and schools, manufactories and 
markets, shops and banks; but I think no 
other city than Winnipeg has ever been able 
to boast of a club-house at so early a stage of its 
existence. The Manitoba Club was founded in 
1874 — that is, one year after the incorporation of 
the city. The club-house in Main-street presents 
a neat appearance externally, while its internal 
arrangements are as comfortable as the most 
fastidious person could expect. Its. members 
number about 80. I can write with the greater 
confidence in praise of the Manitoba Club, because 
I had the gratification of being made an honorary 
member of it and of enjoying its advantages. 
Though acquainted with many clubs, I know of 
few wherein dinners are supplied of equal quality 
at so moderate a charge as in the Manitoba Club. 
I found that the members enjoyed some articles of 



A journalistic Expeinment, 207 

food wliicli would be accounted startling noyelties 
in any Englisli club, among tliem being sturgeon, 
an excellent fish, and roast bear, a tender and 
finely flavoured meat. I was more struck with 
this club than with the fact that Winnipeg pos- 
sesses two excellent daily newspapers, the Mani- 
toba Free Press and the Daily Times. A club- 
house is regarded as a luxury in the Far West, 
whereas a newspaper is held to be a necessary of 
life. In the town of Selkirk, twenty miles farther 
north, the few inhabitants decided that they must 
have a newspaper, and, as there was no printing- 
press in the town, the difficulty to be overcome 
was considerable. They agreed among them- 
selves to pay a sum of $500 to the founder of a 
weekly newspaper in Selkirk, and they advertised 
this offer, adding that a circulation of 400 copies, 
at $2 each, was guaranteed for a year. The 
result was that an enterprising gentleman started 
from the older part of Canada with a printing- 
press, and became printer, editor, and newspaper 
proprietor in Selkirk. The experiment was not 
successful ; the weekly journal lived a year when 
it ceased to appear and a monthly magazine was 
issued in the hope that the reading public would 
give it the support which had been denied to the 
weekly venture. 

Before crossing the Red Eiver and describing 



2o8 The City of Winnipeg, 

the thriving suburb of St. Boniface, I must devote 
a few sentences to tlie Company wliicli was once 
supreme and wbicli is still a power in Winnipeg. 
There was a time not very long ago when no per- 
son could buy, sell, or reside here without leave 
from the Governor of Assineboia, the old name 
for this Province. The Hudson Bay Company 
had then an actual monopoly of the country and 
exercised an exclusive jurisdiction over it. It 
had not been disputed in a court of law that th.e 
cbarter conferred on the Company by Charles II. 
gave them all the authority to which they laid 
claim, neither could it be denied that the attempt 
to keep a fertile region vaster than Europe as the 
hunting-ground of savages and a breeding-place 
for wild beasts, was opposed to the spirit of the 
age. The monopoly ended in 1869, when the 
Company surrendered its claims to Canada in 
return for 300,000Z. in cash, the retention of land 
round the trading- stations estimated at 50,000 
acres, and of one-twentieth part of the remainder 
of the land. Thus the Hudson Bay Company 
became the largest possessor of landed propei ty 
in the world. 

In past times no company could well be more 
prosperous than this one ; the proprietors received 
enormous returns for their investments ; the divi- 
dends were sometimes as high as 300 per cent. 



The Hudson Bay Company, 209 

Not even tlie East India Company in its palmiest 
day was a greater financial success tlian this great 
fur company of the North- West. And jast as the 
East India Company had among its servants men 
of genius like Clive and Hastings, so was the Hud- 
son Bay Company served by men whose ability 
was not inferior to that of the conquerors and 
rulers of the East. The factors who conducted the 
Company's trade were proud of their position and 
did their utmost to uphold it. Once a year they 
met at Norway-houc'e, reviewed the operations of 
the previous year, planned those of the following 
year, and carefully scrutinized each other's per- 
formances. The factor who had been weio^hed in 
the balance and found wanting was excluded from 
acting with his colleagues. Indeed, merit was 
then the indispensable quahfication for the ad- 
vancement of a Hudson Bay Company's servant. 
In treating the Indians of the North- West, the 
policy of that Company has been both humane 
and exemplary. No one, indeed, who has studied 
the subject and who has had the good fortune 
to enjoy the acquaintance of the pioneers of 
civilization in the North- West can refrain from 
praising the servants of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany in the strongest terms. Though that Com- 
pany is as ably served as of old, yet its excep- 
tional prosperity is a thing of the past. The 

p 



2IO The City of Winnipeg. 

fur trade must dwindle in importance as tlie 
settlers cover the region where the desultory 
efforts of wild Indians to kill wild animals alone 
checked their multiplication. The Company must 
look for its future profits from the sale of land. 
It is difficult for any body which has certain tradi- 
tions, and which has prospered by observing them, 
to forget them altogether and begin an entirely 
new career, and this is the difficulty with which 
the Hudson Bay Company have been confronted. 
Fort G-arry, the original post of the Hudson 
Bay Company, was at the southern end of Main- 
street. A large store adjoins it, in which all the 
articles can be purchased which are required 
either by the simple savage or the exacting white 
man. Next to the store is the Governor's resi- 
dence, now occupied by the Lieutenant-Governor 
of the Province. Formerly this store was the 
only place where the Eed River settlers, for several 
miles round Fort Garry, could make purchases, or 
where they conld dispose of their produce. Even 
now the articles sold here are as good and quite 
as cheap as in the Winnipeg shops ; in makiug 
this statement, I do so from experience, having 
been a customer both to the store and to some of 
the shops. ISTow, if the Company desired that 
their store should be able to cope most thoroughly 
with rival establishments the obvious course was to 



Mr. Brydges, 2 1 1 

promote settlement in its vicinity. This was not 
done ; on the contrary, the chief business part of 
the city was driven northward. Five hundred 
acres of land at Fort Garry remained the property 
of the Company at the transfer of its dominion to 
Canada in 18G9. Instead of selling this land to 
the highest bidder, a price was set on it far in 
excess of the sum for which land equally good 
could be bought elsewhere. Hence it is that, 
instead of the neighbourhood of the Fort and 
store being covered with dwellings, it lay waste, 
while dwellings covered the opposite end of Main- 
street, nearly two miles distant. 

A change has taken place in the conduct of the 
Company's business which is likely to redeem all 
the errors once committed. Mr. Brydges, who 
had been Manager of the Grand Trunk and Super- 
intendent of the Intercolonial Railway, was ap- 
pointed Commissioner for the sale of the Company's 
land. He has brought his large business-know- 
ledge and tact to bear upon the matter with the 
best results. There are still changes to be 
effected in the management of the Company's 
affairs before they can be said to be conducted in 
the most efficient manner. Nevertheless, so much 
has been done in the rio^ht direction that the 
financial success of the Company ought to be far 
greater in the future than in recent years. About 

p 2 



2 1 2 City of Winnipeg, 

the value of their property there can be no ques- 
tion. To use a phrase common in the United 
States, ''there are milhons in it." But prudent 
management both in London and Winnipeg is 
required to extract the millions from it. 



II. 

It is time, for the sake of variety, to pass across 
the river to the interesting suburb of this city. A 
few minutes spent in a ferrj-boat, and then '-he 
passenger sets foot in St. Boniface. The cha 
between any part of the English and French c^ 
is very great ; crossing the Straits of Dover 
landing in France is like entering a new w( 
Much the same effect is produced on him 
leaves Ottawa, passes through the suburb of Edin- 
burgh, crosses the river, and enters Hull. This is 
not only a change from the Province of Ontario 
to that of Quebec, but it is also a change from an 
English to a French speaking locality. Such a 
contrast may also be perceived, both in the 
oldest and youngest States in the North American 
Union. AVhen the river is crossed which separates 
New York from Hoboken, one passes from an 
English to a German speaking city ; indeed, there 
are shops in Hoboken where Grerman is under- 



5/. Boniface. 213 

stood better than English. In Chicago and Mil- 
waukee there are quarters where German is the 
prevailing speech, and in St. Paul there are 
quarters where ]N"orse is the only tongue fluently 
spoken. But none of these cases is so curious as 
that of St. Boniface. In the cities of the United 
States, though the people may speak a foreign 
tongue, there is yet no external token of the popu- 
lation being foreign. On the western side of the 
Eed Eiver, the wayfarer who looks at the street- 
corners sees such truly British names as Alfred, 
Gladstone, and Macfarlane ; on the eastern side he 
sees Eue St. Boniface, Rue St. Joseph, Rue du 
Moulin, while he hears the passers-by converse in 
the French language. It is not so much the fact 
that French is spoken, as that everything looks so 
French which renders this suburb of the city of 
Winnipeg unlike any other which I have seen in 
any city on the continent of l^orth America or of 
Europe. 

The settlement of French half-breeds at St. 
Boniface dates from the year 1818. Since then it 
has been the Roman Catholic mission centre of the 
North- West. Bishop Pro voucher laboured bare as 
a priest from 1818 tiU his death as bishop in 1853. 
His successor. Archbishop Tache. has spent the 
greater part of a long life as a missionery priest 
among the Indians. Archbishop Tache' s work 



214 The City of Winnipeg, 

entitled *^ Twenty Years of Missions in the Nortli- 
West of America " is not only an interesting 
record of personal experience, but till recently it 
lias been the only trustwottliy guide to that 
obscure region. He is very popular, and bis great 
authority over the Half-Breeds and the Indians is 
exercised with much discretion. He chiefly con- 
tHbuted to allay the irritation which occasioned 
and succeeded the rebellion headed by Louis Riel ; 
and, though he was said to have rather strained 
his powers as a mediator by promising an absolu- 
tion to the rebel leaders which the Canadian 
Government did not intend to accord, yet he un- 
questionably acted in good faith and with a suc- 
cess proving that his interpretation of the mission 
which he undertook was justified by events. 

The most conspicuous buildings in the suburb 
of St. Boniface are connected with the church of 
which Archbishop Tache is a worthy representa- 
tive. First in importance is the Cathedral, a stone 
building in simple Gothic style, and one of the 
best edifices of the kind in the North-West. Its 
organ is one of the finest in the country ; it was 
a gift to the Archbishop from his friends in 
Quebec on the 25th anniversary of his accession to 
episcopal rank. The interior of the Cathedral 
is principally remarkable for the absence of the 
tawdry decorations which so often offend the eye 



Archbishop Tachd, 215 

in sucli places. Tlie Archbishop's palace is close 
to the Cathedral, and is also built of stone. It is 
a plain, comfortable dwelliag-place, with a well- 
kept garden in front, filled with flowering plants 
and trees. I had the pleasure of conversing with 
the Archbishop and of learning his views with 
regard to the settlement of the country. He has 
that polish of manner which seems to be the 
inheritance of most persons whose mother-tongue 
is French. Though no longer young and though 
much of his life has been passed among hardships 
which render a man old before his time, yet he has 
the look of a man much younger than his years. 
He is a living witness to the salubrity of the 
climate, having been here upwards of 30 years ; 
his predecessor, Bishop Provencher, lived long 
enough to show that residence near the Red River 
was conducive to longevity. 

Archbishop Tache has a strong faith in the 
progress of this region of the country and in its 
adaptability for settlement. Some parts further 
westward he considers too poor for cultivation, 
but he admits there is ample space and attraction 
for millions to take up their abodes and prosper. 
The task of civilizing the Indians he holds to be 
much less difficult than is commonly supposed, 
and the success which the missionaries of his 
Church have had among the Indian tribes between 



2 1 6 The City of Winnipeg. 

the Red River and blie Rocky Mountains is strongly 
in favour of the sanguine views entertained by the 
Archbishop. His own exertions to promote edu- 
cation are worthy of high praise and have yielded 
good fruit. Several educational and charitable 
institutions over which he exercises supervision 
are within a short distance of his palace. First 
there is the College of St. Boniface, where the 
students number between 60 and 70 ; secondly, 
there is St. Boniface Academy for the education 
of girls, where the teachers are Sisters of Charity ; 
thirdly, there is the Convent of St. Boniface, where 
orphans and destitute old women are cared for and 
supported by the Sisters ; and, fourthly, there is 
a hospital in connexion with the convent for the 
relief of the sick. Having read some extracts 
from the pastoral letter issued by Archbishop 
Tache at the time of the last general election in 
Canada, I was desirous of seeing the document 
itself, and, on stating this, the Archbishop kindly 
presented a copy to me. I shall translate a few 
passages from it in order to show the kind of 
advice which is given to electors by this excellent 
representative of the CathoHc Church in the 
Canadian "West. 

He begins by claiming for priests, as citizens, 
the duty to take part in elections and the right to 
do so in virtue of their education and sacred oflS.ce. 



Advice to Electors, 217 

He sets fortli tlie importance of the elections on 
account of the results which may follow, and the 
necessity of having a well-constituted Legislature. 
He insists on the value of every vote in a Legisla- 
tive Assembly, seeing that a single vote may turn 
the scale for good or evil, and he contends that 
this consideration ought to be borne in mind 
in choosing representatives. He controverts the 
generally prevailing view that any man is fitted 
to be a legislator, saying that to represent one's 
fellow-countrymen, to undertake the preservation 
of the interests of one's country, and to become a 
legislator are such very difficult and important 
duties that one is often surprised at the ease with 
which certain persons set up as candidates and 
solicit the votes of electors. A proper candidate 
ought to possess common sense, a thing which the 
Archbishop holds to be rarer than is commonly 
supposed, and of which the absence is almost in- 
variably marked by ignorance of the precept there 
is " a time to keep silence," adding, '' Discretion 
in speech is so charactistic of prudence that we 
are assured in Solomon's Proverbs that even a 
fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise, 
and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of 
understanding." He thinks it imperative that a 
good member of Parliament should be a well- 
instructed man, " it being possible to be a worthy 



2i8 The City of Winnipeg, 

man without instruction, but not a good legislator." 
Equally necessary is it to be an honest man, to be 
received in good society, to be sober and God- 
fearing in order to merit being sent to Parliament. 
The Archbishop remarks that these considerations 
prove that the requisite Parhamentary qualifica- 
tions are not possessed by all men, and then he 
goes on to show what are the duties incumbent on 
electors. The first is to pray for enlightenment, 
the second to consult wise and discreet persons, to 
avoid being inflaenced by passion or personal in- 
terest, to widen the sphere of their contemplation, 
and to consider the public weal. He warns them 
against the curses of elections, which are lying, 
drunkenness, venality, and violence, and he 
implores them to allow the result to be achieved in 
opposition to their wishes rather than to gain an 
electoral triumph through perjury, calumny, or 
falsehood. He denounces bribery as a crime 
which stains both parties, both the briber and the 
bribed being bad citizens, traitors to duty and 
honour. He styles a member who owes his 
election to corruption as an intruder in Parliament. 
He charges the electors not to commit any acts of 
violence and to refrain from copying the bad 
example in this respect which had been set else- 
where, adding, " Above all show yourselves 
Christians, and you cannot fail to be good citizens." 



A French Newspaper. 219 

He concludes by forbidding tbe holding of political 
meetings at the church doors on Sundays and by 
desiring that such gatherings should be held on 
weekdays only. The foregoing summary of this 
pastoral letter not only shows the opinions which 
the Archbishop inculcates, but it justifies me in 
asserting that if other dignitaries of his Church 
displayed the same tact and good taste there 
would never be any cause for protesting against 
priestly interference at elections. 

Before leaving St. Boniface, I must note that 
this suburb of Winnipeg promises to thrive even 
better in the future than it has hitherto done. 
The terminus of the Pembina branch of the St. 
Paul and Pacific Eailway is here, and this has 
given an impetus to building. A newspaper in 
Prench, called Lq Metis, is published weekly. It 
is the only French journar published in the Cana- 
dian !North-West and taking cognizance of the 
wishes and wants of the large class there which 
preserves the use of the French language. There 
is no part of Canada where speech is more diver- 
sified than in the Province of Manitoba, nor is 
there any in which the ordinary routine of 
existence is more varied. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE PROVIISCE OF MANITOBA. 

The surprise wliicli I felt on first walking along 
the streets of Winnipeg and seeing so many 
tokens of progress and civilization was increased 
when I journeyed through the Province of which 
Winnipeg is the capital. I had read that the 
country was totally unfit for settlement. I had 
read that it was pre-eminently adapted for 
farming and that no other part of the Continent 
was a more desirable place of abode. Indeed, 
few regions of the world have been the subjects 
of greater controversy than Manitoba, the Prairie 
Province of Canada. It has had many indiscreet 
eulogists and as many unscrupulous defamers. 
If the former are right, the Province must be an 
Earthly Paradise; if the latter set forth the 
whole truth, it must be the counterpart of Dante's 
Inferno. Though the discussion as to the ad- 
vantages or drawbacks of this place has been 



opinions aboitt the Region, 



221 



specially keen and persistent of late years, yet tlie 
difference of opinion concerning it is of old date. 
Since the Hudson Bay Company received tlieir 
charter from Charles the Second in 1670, doubts 
have been expressed and uncertainty has pre- 
vailed as to the character of the region ont of 
which this Province has been carved. The 
matter was carefully investigated by a Select 
Committee of the House of Commons in 1749 
and again in 1857. Mr. Gladstone was a member 
of the Committee which sat in 1857 and he was 
not so ready as some of his colleagues to conclude 
that the officers of the Hudson Bay Company 
were justified in maintaining that the entire 
Canadian JSTorth West was unsuited for settlers 
and had been evidently designed by Providence 
to be a perpetual breeding-ground of wild beasts 
and a congenial habitation for wild Indians. 

Sir George Simpson, who had been Governor 
of the Hudson Bay Company's territory during 
thirty-seven years and who had traversed every 
part of it, emphatically assured the Committee 
that the region now known as Manitoba was 
cursed with a poor soil, a variable and inhos- 
pitable climate and disastrous and frequent 
inundations. The Eight Hon. Edward Ellice, 
speaking on behalf of the governing body of the 
Company in England, confidently asserted that 



22 2 The Province of Manitoba. 

tlie Eed River district was no place for settlers 
and that the State of Minnesota, now so prospe- 
rous, was no place for them either. Sir John 
Eicbardson, the famous Arctic explorer, agreed 
with the officers of the Company in pronouncing 
the land utterly worthless for settlement; and he 
declared that he could not understand why any 
one should go thither except to prosecute the fur 
trade. He made a statement which caused an 
impression on his hearers but which seems very 
stransre to me. It was to the effect that the vine 
does not grow naturally on the North American 
Continent to the north of 43 degrees of latitude. 
Now, I have eaten and plucked grapes on the 
banks of the Red River to the north of the 49th 
parallel of latitude, and I have drunk wine made 
from wild grapes grown on the Assiniboine River 
at the 50th parallel. When men of experience 
and eminence like Mr. Ellice and Sir John 
Richardson made such extraordinary mistakes as 
to matters of fact relating to this part of the 
country, it is not to be wondered at if they 
grievously erred in matters of opinion. In truth, 
many of the facts and opinions current about 
Manitoba have been either palpable fictions, or 
absurd blunders. 

The Province. of Manitoba occupies the centre 
of North America, being equidistant from the 



Extent of the Province, 223 

pole and the equator, tlie Atlantic and Pacific 
oceans. Its area when formed into a Province was 
14,310 square railes; since then its boundaries 
have been extended and it now covers 120,000 
square miles. In Canada the Provinces of 
Quebec and British Columbia are the only two 
coverinof a lars^er area than Manitoba, while in the 
Union two States only, Texas and California, are 
vaster than it. Yet Manitoba covers but a 
fraction of the Canadian Far West, there being 
ample space therein out of which to carve fifteen 
other Provinces of the like extent. Its peculi- 
arity and advantage consist in the fact that 
settlement there is of an old enough date to 
enable its capacity for producing food and 
affording pleasant homes to the landless to have 
been thoroughly tested. When I visited it in 
1878 for the first time the novelty of the scene 
fell short of my expectation. I had been accus- 
tomed, in common with many other persons, to 
regard it not only as outlandish and inaccessible, 
but as a region where life must be spent under 
even less favourable conditions than in those 
remote parts of the Far West with which I was 
acquainted. With a feeling of amazement, then, 
I discovered throughout Manitoba innumerable 
indications of a long-settled and well-governed 
country. Many of the farms which I visited had 



224 The Province of Ma^iiioba. 

an antiquated look wliicli produced a striking 
impression. I had expected them to resemble 
other Prairie farms, which appear as if they had 
just been established, or were on the point of being 
abandoned, everything about them being unsub- 
stantial and unfinished. The rude dwelliug-houses 
seem intended to serve a temporary purpose. No 
trim gardens give evidence of long residence and 
the expenditure of leisure time. An unenclosed 
plot of ground, in which cabbages or potatoes are 
struggling for existence among a mass of weeds, 
is the only attempt at gardening to be seen on a 
new prairie farm. The fields bear testimony to 
the haste with which the settler has striven to 
grow and garner a crop. He has sown the seed 
before the land has been wholly reclaimed from 
its wilderness state, caring nothing about appear- 
ances so long as he can harvest a quantity of 
grain sufficient to repay his outlay and to leave 
him a surplus wherewith to feed himself and his 
family. Tidiness is not the forte of a prairie 
farmer. . 

In Manitoba, however, many prairie farms have 
as finished and comfortable a look as any in Great 
Britain. An enclosed garden, filled with flowers 
and vegetables aud free from weeds, is attached 
to most of them ; the fields are in excellent con- 
dition; the dwelling-house seems built to last 



Farming in Manitoba. 225 

and to afford a comfortable shelter; an air pre- 
vails which can best be rendered by the epithet 
home-like. This was not what I had come so far 
to see. Yet, if I had pondered more carefully 
the history of the country, it is precisely 
what I ought to have expected. It is a common 
but an entire mistake to reg^ard Manitoba as a 
region of the globe in which farming is an ex- 
periment. The truth is that farming has been 
practised there on a considerable scale and with 
remarkable success since the year 1812. 

At the beginning of this century the problem 
of how to deal with the poorer Highlanders 
caused much anxiety to philanthropists and 
statesmen. The semi-patriarchal state in which 
the Highland clans had lived was a thing of the 
past, and there appeared to be no place for the 
members of these clans in the new state of things. 
Shortly after the bloody suppression of the re- 
bellion of 1745, many Highlanders emigrated to 
North America. Expatriated Highlanders con- 
stituted the bone and marrow of the colony which 
General Oglethorpe conducted across the Atlantic 
in order to found what is now the State of 
Georgia. Others had chosen JSTorth Carolina as 
their dwelling-place, and, siding with Congress in 
the war of Independence, they proved themselves 
sturdy and dauntless soldiers in battle. 

Q 



2 26 The Province of Maniioha, 

In tlie introduction to Scott's Legend of Mon- 
trose an account is given of Sergeant More 
M'Alpin who, having served his time in the army 
and been discharged with a pension, went back 
to his birthplace in the North of Scotland and 
found that a single farmer occupied the ground 
where two hundred persons had lived in his boy- 
hood. He meditated following them to Canada 
and settling in the valley which they had called 
after their native glen. Lord Selkirk persuaded 
some of these evicted Highlanders to unite in 
founding a colony on the banks of the Red River 
of the North. He had become Chairman of the 
Hudson Bay Company and he had acquired a 
tract of land covering 116,000 square miles, 
whereon he wished to form a settlement. In the 
spring of 1811, a party of Highlanders, the 
majority being natives of Sutherlandshire, em- 
barked at Stornaway and sailed for York Factory 
on Hudson Bay. It was autumn before the 
party reached York Factory, and the land journey 
to Fort Grarry, on the Red River, could not be 
begun till the following spring; the emigrants 
did not reach their destination till the autumn of 
1812. The weary and dispirited Highlanders 
found that they were expected to fight as well as 
to farm, hostilities being then in progress between 
the Hudson Bay Company and the North-West 



Red River Farmers, 227 

Fur Company of Canada and they were told that, 
if the latter Company were victorious, they would 
be deprived of the land which they had bought. 
So hard did their lot seem that they resolved to 
quit the country, and they had actually started 
in 1816 when, on Lord Selkirk appearing with a 
fresh band of emigrants, they agreed to remain. 
Their descendants in the third generation are 
now successful and prosperous farmers, and it 
was their farms which struck me as very different 
from the Prairie farms which I had seen else- 
where. Their experience demonstrates how fertile 
the soil is along the E-ed Eiver Valley. 

I visited farms in the parish of Kildonan where 
wheat had been sown and where crops had been 
reaped for sixty years in succession without 
manure being applied. Indeed, the Red Eiver 
farmers have long regarded the natural fertilizers 
of the soil as an incumbrance of which, they try 
to rid themselves with the least possible trouble. 
Their babit was either to cast manure into 
the river or else to build out-houses in such a way 
that it might fall down and be no more seen. 
When this region passed from under the juris- 
diction of the Hudson Bay Company and became 
a Province of Canada, one of the earliest legislative 
enactments provided that the farmer who polluted 
a river with manure should pay a fine of $25, or 

Q 2 



2 28 The Province of Manitoba, 

else be imprisoned for two montlis. Even now It 
is more common to collect the manure in heaps 
than to strew it over the land. The only fertilizer 
added to many fields is the ash from burned 
straw. I often saw the straw, remaining after 
the grain had been thrashed, set on fire as the 
quickest way to dispose of it. However, as the 
country becomes more thickly peopled, straw will 
be taken to market and sold for money instead of 
being converted into ashes. 

That a piece of land should bear wheat for three 
generations in succession is extraordinary, but 
that the yield at the end of that period should 
amount to 25 bushels an acre is more extraordi- 
nary still. On virgin soil the yield is enormous. 
The best evidence on this head, because it is per- 
fectly authentic, is that furnished by Mr. Senator 
Sutherland, a native of the Province*, to a Com- 
mittee of the Dominion House of Commons in 
1876. Mr. Sutherland then said that he had 
"raised 60 bushels of spring wheat per acre, 
weighing 66 lbs. per bushel, the land having been 
measured and the grain weighed carefully. I 
have also received reliable information to the 
efiect that 70 bushels of wheat have been pro- 
duced from 1 bushel of wheat sown." Another 
interesting fact rests on the same trustworthy 
authority ; this is the abundance of grass and 



Prairie Grasses. 229 

clieapness of hay. The prairie grasses, of which 
there are six varieties in this Province, con- 
tain much nutriment; thej can be converted 
into hay at the cost of $1 a ton. These wild 
grasses often grow to the height of 5 feet ; the 
yield of hay is as much as 4 tons an acre. 

While the descendants of the original settlers 
are living in comfort, the new-comers are pros- 
pering also. They have to struggle against cer- 
tain drawbacks as is the lot of all prairie farmers ; 
in their case, however, it is emphaticallj^ true that 
patience and perseverance have their reward. I 
conversed with many of the later settlers. One 
of them was a very intelligent man who had 
emigrated from the North of Ireland, to Ontario 
fifteen years ago and who had migrated to Mani- 
toba a year before I saw him, being induced to 
do so because the return from his farm did not 
keep pace with the increase and the demands of 
his family. His flock of a dozen children gave 
him no concern in his Manitoba home. His 
eldest daughter had found a good place at a 
'liberal w^age in a clergyman's household, while 
his crops were so abundant that he could easily 
feed all the mouths dependent upon him and lay 
something aside for the future. 

He had but one fault to find with the country, 
and he was not singular in his complaint. The 



230 The Province of Manitoba, 

violence of the thunderstorms appalled Mm. I 
was not surprised to hear him say this. I have 
had some experience of thunderstorms and I am 
prepared to maintain that those of Manitoba are 
so terrific as to be beyond all rivalry. In Ontario 
the flashes of lightning are more vivid and the 
peals of thunder are far more resonant than in 
England, but a Manitoba thunderstorm is to 
one in Ontario what one in Ontario is to one in 
England. When Manitoba is visited with such a 
storm the rain falls as if the windows of heaven 
were open, the thunder crashes as if the celestial 
combat imagiiied by Milton were at its height, 
the lightning fills the air with sheets of dazzling 
brightness athwart which dart tongues of flame. 
The air is so charged with electricity that the 
simplest operation reveals its presence. It can 
be made manifest by merely combing one's hair. 
At times it appears in a startling fashion. The 
Earl of Southesk records in the narrative of his 
travels here that, when about to wrap himself in 
a fur robe, "a white sheet of electrical flame 
blazed into his face, for a moment illuminating 
the whole tent." 

The Manitoba farmer who reaps fabulously 
large crops can afford to bear the discomforts of 
occasional thunderstorms of exceptional violence. 
"When locusts, or grasshoppers as they are here 



Grasshoppej^s. 231 

called, visit the country they cause greater un- 
easiness because tliey occasion far greater loss 
than all the thunderstorms. This plague is not 
peculiar to Manitoba ; it is dreaded by farmers in 
the Western States from Minnesota to Colorado. 
At Denver, the capital of Colorado, I once saw a 
flight of grasshoppers, resembling a scintillating 
brown cloud, pass over the city, and many were the 
speculations among the onlookers as to the part 
of the State on which it would descend and work 
destruction. The settlers in Manitoba have 
suffered less from this pest than their neighbours 
in the United States. Since the first settlers 
came here in 1812 the grasshoppers have ap- 
peared thirteen times, whereas they have visited 
the State of Minnesota six times since 1855 ; in 
the former case the visitations having been thir- 
teen during sixty-eight years and in the latter, 
six during twenty-five years. The Indians wel- 
come grasshoppers ; they catch, roast and eat them 
and pronounce them very good. Happily for the 
farmers, who prefer bushels of grain upon which 
they can live, to bushels of grasshoppers which 
devour their crops, the voracious insects are not 
regular visitors. As many as thirty-five years have 
elapsed between their successive appearances. 
Moreover, the farmers are better able now to ward 
ofi" their ravages than they were in bygone days. 



232 The Province of Mmiitoba. 

Grasslioppers are an infliction which is not 
very frequent nor very greatly feared ; the spring 
floods are annual torments for which no remedy 
has yet been adopted. They cause the farmer 
much annoyance and serious loss. The deposit 
left upon the land which has been inundated fre- 
quently lessens its fertility for a season. There 
is a remedy which would cure all this, or better 
still which would prevent the mischief altogether. 
A lightning-rod guards the farmer's house and 
barns from injury by the electric fluid. A proper 
and general system of drainage would shield his 
fields from the destroying flood when the snow 
melts in the spring and the streams are swollen to 
a great height. The Government of the Province 
have a comprehensive scheme of drainage in 
contemplation. If it were carried out and if it 
proved efiectual, the wealth of the Province would 
be vastly augmented, the waste now produced by 
the floods being incalculable. 

The Red River cart is a relic of Manitoba in the 
old time which is destined to follow the bufialo 
and be seen no more. Indeed, it cannot outlast 
the buffalo, because buffalo hide is one of the 
chief materials used in its construction. The 
cart is entirely made of wood and buffalo hide, no 
metal being employed or required in its construc- 
tion. It was an ingenious device of the first 
settlers v/ho, having no iron at their disposal, had 




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Manitoba Homesteads, 233 

to contrive to dispense with it. Sucli a cart costs 
$10 ; it is light as well as cheap, and a heavier 
load can be drawn in it by an ox over the soft 
prairie than in a cart of another build. With one 
of these carts carrying a load of half a ton, a yoke 
of oxen, a plough and a few other implements, 
the Manitoba farmer is equipped for tilling the 
soil. Farming on the prairie is very different 
work from farming in the backwoods of Canada. 
It has been aptly and truly said, "Where the 
Ontario farmer ends, the farmer of Manitoba 
begins." The latter has merely to plough the 
prairie, sow the seed and wait till his grain is 
ready to be reaped ; he has neither trees to fell 
norland to clear. 

Any citizen of the British Empire can g<Q\. a 
farm in Manitoba on very easy terms. The 
Canadian Homestead Act provides that he may 
secnre 160 acres of land on paying an office fee of 
$10, living there three years, erecting a dwelling 
on it not less than 18 feet long by 16 feet wide, 
and cultivating a part of the land. On complying 
with these conditions, he becomes the absolute 
owner of the land. His task is not hard. He 
may grow a crop the first year of occupation 
which will reimburse him for all his outlay. 
Should he have cattle, they can graze free of cost 
on the prairie grass and be fed in winter on hay 
hicli he obtains for the trouble of cuttins" and 



234 ^^^^ Province of Manitoba, 

curing it. In order to succeed he must start witli 
capital; the minimum sum which he ought to have 
on beginniog to farm is $500 ; the larger his 
capital the greater his chance of success. In any 
case he must make up his mind to endure some 
privations, to eat very plain food, to sleep little 
and work very hard. Should he be diligent in 
toiling with his hands, he may count upon being 
in comfortable circumstances at the end of five 
years and a rich man at the end of ten. The 
fault will be his own if he fail. Nature has done 
everything for the Manitoba farmer that nature 
can do for any farmer, and it rests with him 
to do the rest. The Manitoba farmers whom I 
visited and with whom I conversed are so con- 
scious of this as to indulge but seldom in the 
grumbling which is the failing of the farming 
class. I found them more ready to express 
thankfulness than to find fault. It was their rule 
to use nearly the same form of words in which to 
convey their reply to my question as to what they 
thought about the country as a whole, the phrase 
being " Manitoba is the finest land that God's 
sun ever shone on."^ 

^. Among the many pamphlets, Blue Books and works relating 
to Manitoba which I have read, none contains a more interesting 
and valuable account of its early history than a book entitled 
Bed River^ by Mr. J. J. Hargrave, published at Montreal in 
1871. 



CHAPTER XI. 

MENNONITES AND ICELAXDEES IN MANITOBA. 

The eraiofration of tlie Mennonites from their 
Rassian homes near tlie Sea of AzofE to new ones 
near the Eed River of the North, is an interestiog 
fact in contemporary history. These Mennonites 
are German Protestants who reject infant baptism, 
who will not bear arms or take an oath. Their 
ancestors took refuge in Russia a century ago 
because they were not allowed to practise their 
religion in Western Prussia. They found an 
asylum in Russia where the edicts of successive 
Emperors allowed them to till the soil and live in 
peace. It was decreed, however, that the immunity 
which they had enjoyed from military service 
should terminate in 1871 ; hence, they had either 
to submit to the conscription or leave the country. 
The majority chose the latter alternative. 

A large number of Mennonites emigrated to the 
United States, settling in Nebraska and Kansas. 



236 Mennonites and Icelanders in Manitoba, 

A small body went to Brazil, suffered mucL. and 
returned to Russia after undergoing great priva- 
tions and after being the objects of English 
charity during their stay at Southampton, on 
returning from Brazil, and till permission to re- 
enter Russia was granted. "While the exodus was 
in progress, Mr. Hespeler was commissioned by 
the Canadian Government to proceed to Russia and 
suggest to the Mennonites that Manitoba would 
be a suitable place for them. A few Mennonites 
had settled in Ontario, had prospered, had grown 
rich and were disposed to succour their unfortunate 
brethren in the dominions of the Czar. They 
agreed to become sureties to the Government of 
Canada for the repayment of any sum which it 
might be necessary to advance to the Russian 
Mennonites by way of loan. The amount lent by 
the Government was $80,000, at 6 per cent, 
interest, repayable in eight years. 

Before deciding to leave Russia for Canada, the 
Mennonites sent three agents to survey the land 
and empowered them, if satisfied with it, to 
select a tract for settlement. These agents 
reported very favourably of Manitoba, and they 
chose two places one to the East, the other to 
the West of the Red River, as suitable for their 
brethren. The Canadians were not impressed 
with the penetration of these agents, because the 



Mennoiiite Homes, 237 

land which tliey deliberately selected seemed far 
inferior to other land which they might have had. 
When the main body of the Mennonites arrived 
at the Red Eiver about five years ago, they had 
much to endure. Tbey had to encamp on the 
open prairie in the cold winter months. Water 
was scarce and trees were few in number. They 
dug wells and met the first difficulty ; they built 
houses of sun-dried brick and overcame the second 
and, what was still more wonderful, they heated 
their dwellings and cooked their food with fires 
made without wood or coal. I mentioned in a 
previous chapter that the early settlers had a 
habit, which they bequeathed to their descendants 
and from which the latter are not yet weaned, of 
burning the straw in their fields and casting their 
manure into the river. The Mennonites carefully 
save both. They thatch their houses and barns 
with part of the straw ; the remainder they mix 
with the manure, press the two together and cut 
the mass into cakes, which serve admirably as 
fuel to burn in their clay-built stoves. These 
stoves are so arranged that three sides of each 
form parts of three rooms, thus distributing heat 
over the greatest surface and economizing fuel. 

More cosy dwellings and better arranged farm 
offices than those of the Mennonites are not to be 
found in Manitoba or in the Canadian Far West. 



238 Men7zonites and Icelanders in Manitoba, 

The furniture is plain but substantial, and well 
adapted for its purpose. It is the handiwork of the 
people themselves. They employ their leisure in 
carpentry during the frost-bound winter months. 
The men think it as absurd not to make their own 
chairs and tables, their writing-desks and chests of 
drawers, as the women consider it inexcusable not 
to suckle their infants and make the clothes 
used by their families. It is the custom of both 
sexes to buy anything which they can fabricate 
for themselves. They are thoroughly practical 
Christians ; they hold that their duties to them- 
selves and their neighbours consist in dressing 
plainly, being diligent in business and rendering 
to every one his due and no more. They are 
ready to help those who help themselves ; but 
they will not lend a hand to keep the idle by 
nature in a state of blissful indolence. The men 
are farmers from choice. No drones are suffered 
to remain in their community. Every one in 
sound health is obliged to labour with his hands 
or to pay the penalty of starving. A clergyman 
toils in the fields during the week and ministers 
to the spiritual wants of his flock on Sundays. 
Nor is the schoolmaster exempted from manual 
labour during seed-time and harvest ; the rest of 
the year he is permitted to teach the children. 
The women have to labour as hard and as un- 



Meniionite Dodidnes and Habits, 239 

remittinglj as the men. No distinction of sex is 
made when a field has to be weeded, a house 
plastered, seed sown or cattle tended. All who 
can use their hands are obliged to do so when the 
occasion arises. 

^ The Mennonites will not fight on any provoca- 
tion. They will not take an oath whatever the 
consequences. They will not go to law if they 
can possibly help it, and they carry their in- 
dependence to such an extreme that each one 
acts as his own physician without thinking that 
he is chargeable with folly. They can the more 
easily dispense with drugs and doctors because 
they enjoy exceptionally good health. The country 
and the climate suit them. I was told by those 
whom I questioned on the subject that, in 
Manitoba, they had far less sickness, especially 
among the children, than in Southern Eassia. 
They are temperate; bat they are not water 
drinkers on principle. They relish a glass of 
whiskey and still more a glass of brandy if they 
can enjoy it without payment. Their chief 
objection to strong liquors consists in having to 
pay for them. They also dehght in a pipe, if 
tobacco be supplied to them gratis. 

^ I spent a night in one of their settlements ; 1 
visited many of their farms; I conversed with 
several of them in their own tongue. It is a 



240 Mennonites mtd Icelanders in Manitoba, 

proof of tlieir innate and intense conservatism 
that tliej have preserved tlieir German speech 
till now. It is doubtful whether they will not be 
driven to speak English as well as German and, 
in time, to speak English exclusively. In Eussia 
they had no temptation or inducement to learn the 
language of the country. They were a compara- 
tively educated body placed among an ignorant 
and, in their estimation, an inferior race. If the 
Russians by whom they were surrounded wished 
to converse with them, they held it to be the 
business of the Russians to acquire their language. 
Now the tables are turned. They find it necessary 
to learn English in order to do business with their 
neighbours, these neighbours not caring to take 
any trouble for the purpose of being able to 
converse with them. Whereas in Russia they 
looked down with contempt npon their ignorant 
neighbours, in Manitoba they recognize that their 
neighbours are better educated and far more 
advanced in the ways of the world than themselves. 
The agricultural implements which they saw in 
Canada were as much superior to those which they 
had used in Russia as a railway train is to a stage 
coach. They felt that the people who made and 
employed such improved ploughs, thrashing 
machines and harvesters must be infinitely their 
superiors. They showed their tact and good 



Failings of the Mennonites, 241 

sense, not only in recognizing this, but also in 
buying the novel implements of agriculture where- 
wiih to cultivate the soil. 

Their satisfaction with tlie soil and climate is ex- 
pressed without reserve and in the strongest terms. 
Each of those to whom I addressed a question on 
this head informed me that the soil of Manitoba 
was more fertile, that the yield of grain was larger, 
that the quality of the grain was better there 
than in Southern Russia, while the climate, espe- 
cially in summer, was far superior. Some ot 
them waxed enthusiastic when speaking of their 
Canadian home. They have nothing to complain 
of. The Canadian Government have pledged 
themselves to respect the religious scruples of the 
Mennonites. The Mennonites, on the other hand, 
desire nothing so much as to be left in the un- 
disturbed enjoyment of what they style '' a 
beautiful, a heavenly land." Their feelings are 
manifested in the names given to their villages, 
these being '' Schonthal," " Blumenort," '' Schon- 
wiese," " Rosenthal," signifying Beautiful Valley, 
Flowery Spot, Beautiful Meadow, Rose Valley. 

Though the Mennonites possess many virtues 
and make excellent settlers in a new country, 
they are yet far from being model citizens. Their 
very virtues are not easily distinguishable from 
vices. They are as avaricious and niggardly as 

E 



242 Mennonites and Icelanaej^s in Manitoba, 

Frencli peasant proprietors. They are morbidly 
suspioious of persons wlio do not belong to their 
body and, when dealing with strangers, they drive 
bargains which are so hard as to verge on sharp 
practices. To get money is their chief aim in 
hfe, and their whole enjoyment consists in labour- 
ing for that object. Like other assiduous cul- 
tivators of the soil, they allow their minds to lie 
fallow. They can read and write ; indeed, they 
would be ashamed of being unable to do both ; 
but they consider it no reproach to be indifferent 
to literature other than school-books, hymn-books 
and the Bible, and never to look at a newspaper. 
They are utterly heedless as to the affairs of the 
world, so long as they can reap their crops and 
make a profit by selling their produce. If they 
learn what is the market price of what they have 
to sell, they have learnt all the current information 
which they care to possess. 

Even the charity of the Mennonites has its dark 
side. The poorer brethren are assisted by the 
richer, but the richer take care lest the poorer 
should be so well paid as to grow independent 
and make their own terms. Rich Mennonites 
are thoroughly convinced of the advantage of 
employing cheap labour. Their astuteness as a 
community is sometimes carriedfar beyond permis- 
sible limits. I was present when the heads of one of 



Mep.iionite Exclusiveness, 243 

tlieir Municipalities were taken to task for tlie 
follomDg conduct. In common with otliers in tlie 
Province, this Municipality had received $400 
from the Provincial Government to be applied 
in drainage. The grant was accepted by the 
MunicipaUtj in question, but nothing was done in 
draining the land. Unless each Municipality did 
its duty, the effect of the work would be impaired. 
The result of investigation was to show that the 
Mennonite Municipality had expended $75 in buy- 
ing two drainage ploughs which were carefully 
stored away, and had lent the rest of the sum 
at interest to a member of their own body. 

It is the desire and hope of the Mennonites in 
Manitoba to live apart from their neighbours and 
to preserve their own speech and customs as they 
.did in Hussia. There are many places on the 
North American Continent where colonies have 
been established which have preserved most of the 
characteristics of their founders. In Nova Scotia 
and Ontario there are German settlements; in 
New Brunswick there is a Danish settlement ; in 
Ontario there is a Highland settlement ; in many 
parts of the country there are French settlements. 
But these settlements are chiefly characterized by 
two languages being spoken by the people; those 
among them whose ancestral tongue is German, 
Gaehc or French learn English also and the fact 

E 2 



244 Mennonites mid Icelanders in Manitoba, 

of tlie people speaking two languages is the chief, 
if not the only distinction between them and other 
Canadians. Every year the possibility of remaining 
a class apart is more difficult owing to the increase 
of intercommunication. The present generation 
of Mennonites may practise all the exclusive rules 
to which they have been accustomed and their 
ignorance of English will render it easier for them 
to resist any external influence which might cause 
them to modify or alter their views and habits. 
Their children will assuredly succumb to these 
influences. They are learning English and they 
will acquire ideas which must alter their mode of 
life. Moreover, the Mennonites are making money 
more rapidly than they ever did before and the 
sons of rich parents may cease to labour with their 
hands as their forefathers have done for genera- 
tions. It is to be hoped, however, that they will 
preserve some of their simple tastes and all their 
domestic virtues. The Mennonites have taught 
the Canadians many lessons, and they have learned 
much in return. The progress of their community 
deserves to be watched with interest. As tillers of 
the soil they have no superiors. As pioneers in 
subjugation of the wilderness they cannot be 
rivalled. Their gospel of labour is sound and 
profitable doctrine for settlers in the Far West, 
and it is their merit to practise it with diligence 



New Iceland. 245 

and zeal. As Lord DufFerin remarked in an 
admirable speech delivered when visiting their 
reservation, they are useful recruits and comrades 
in a contest waged with Nature where no blood is 
shed or misery wrought. Yet the war " is one of 
ambition, for we intend to annex territory, but 
neither blazing villages nor devastated fields will 
mark our ruthless track ; our battalion will march 
across the illimitable plains which stretch before 
us as sunshine steals athwart the ocean ; the rolling 
prairie will blossom in our wake, and corn and 
peace and plenty will spring where we have trod." 



II. 

Fifty-six miles northward of Winnipeg is Gimli, 
the Capital of New Iceland. The territory set 
apart for the Icelanders covers 27,000 acres; the 
population did not much exceed 1029 at the close 
of 1879 ; about 500 Icelanders of both sexes were 
scattered over the Province, the men working on 
farms, the women as domestic servants. Lord 
Dufferin was an enthusiastic advocate of immi- 
gration into Canada from Iceland. He had 
learned from personal observation how hard life 
was in Iceland itself, the people there existing as 
he phrased it *' amid the snows and ashes of an 



246 Mennonites and Icelanders in Manitoba, 

arctic volcaDO." The first Icelandic settlement in 
Canada was made in 1875 near Burnt River in 
Victoria County, Ontario. The spot reminded the 
Icelanders of their native land far too well, the 
chief product of the locality being rock. It was 
then resolved to offer them a tract of land in the 
Far West on the shore of Lake Winnipeg, provided 
that they would remove thither and induce their 
countrymen to join them. The removal was 
effected the following year and as many as 2000 
took up their abode near Lake Winnipeg, an 
inland sea as long as EDgland and not less 
abundantly stocked with fish than the salt ocean 
around Iceland. Immediately after arriving, 
small-pox broke out among them and they were 
subjected to a species of quarantine; they com- 
plained of being kept too strictly isolated and 
that intercourse with the rest of the world was 
forbidden them long after all risk of contagion had 
ceased. 

Perhaps no settlers in the Far West have had 
more difficulties to surmount than these Icelanders; 
certainly, none have found anything so strange and 
unlike what they had seen before. As Lord 
Dufferin justly remarked, the business of the 
Canadian settlers is to fell wood, plough fields, 
make roads ; these Icelanders, however, had never 
seen in their native isle, a tree, a cornfield or a 



Discord amo7ig the Icelanders, 247 

road, and tliey were ignorant of the very elements 
of agriculture. It is higUy creditable to them 
that tliey have learned very quickly how to 
cultivate the soil, the neat gardens round their 
comfortable houses being pleasing tokens of their 
progress. They have been successful in rearing 
cattle and they have now added beef to their 
dietary; formerly they lived entirely on fish, 
vegetables and bread. I am not sanguine, however, 
about the hopes of the promoters of the settle- 
ment being realized. Immigration from Iceland 
does not continue. Tor a time the desire of the 
Icelanders to persuade their brethren at home to 
join them was so marked that Mr. Lowe, Secretary 
to the Department of Agriculture, informed a 
Committee of the Dominion House of Commons, 
" almost every settler in Few Iceland appears to 
be an immigration agent." The great changes 
which these Icelanders have undergone appears to 
have created in their minds a longing for further 
change and fresh wandering. Some of them have 
proceeded to the United States and those who 
remain are not satisfied with their lot. They are 
a good-tempered and harmless race, they make 
excellent servants, but they appear lacking in the 
qualities which constitute successful colonists. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

THE NORTH-WEST TEERITOUIES. 

'' Go west, young man, and grow up with the 
country," was the pithy, sensible and often- 
quoted advice which Horace Greeley gave to such 
of his countrymen as were unable to get suitable 
employment in the Eastern States of the Union. 
The result has been to people the Western States 
with men who find it easier to grow rich there 
than in the place of their birth. What the 
younger citizens of the United States have been 
doing for many years back, the young Canadians 
are doing now. They, too, have a Far West 
which is as rich in golden opportunities as that 
which u'sed to be regarded as the most favoured 
part of the North American Continent. Large 
and important though Manitoba undoubtedly is, 
there is a region beyond it still larger and still 
more attractive. Many persons fancy that Mani- 
toba is far enough west, yet others regard it as on 



Western Roads, 249 

the threshold of the new and marvellous country 
for which they are bound, and they treat it as a 
mere halting-place in their journey towards the 
setting sun. 

When the Canadian Pacific Railway is finished 
and open for traffic the journey westward through 
Manitoba will be an easy one. At present it 
is tedious and trying. During a part of the year 
there is communication by water between Winni- 
peg and Portage la Prairie, 70 miles to the west, 
and it is also possible to go in a steamer as far as 
Battleford, the Capital of the North-West. But 
the more general mode of travel, and the one 
which will be followed till the railway can be used 
is for travellers thither to start in a light spring 
waggon, carrying a tent and other encumbrances 
in view of the probable necessity of having to 
camp out. The traveller and the emigrant do not 
require long experience of Manitoba to thoroughly 
understand its greatest drawback, the absence of 
good roads. The word road has seldom a place 
in the language of the people, the common ex- 
pression to designate the pathway between two 
places being 'Hrail." It may be said, indeed, 
that each traveller makes his own road. If he be 
aware of the direction which he ought to follow, 
he chooses the part of the prairie wiiere the 
ground is best fitted for driving. Nothing is 



250 The North-West Territories, 

easier tlian to drive over tlie stoneless and 
springing turf of the virgin prairie and, if t!ie 
traffic be not too great, an excellent'' trail" is 
made by the passage of successive vehicles. But, 
when the traffic is heavy and continuous and holes 
are formed in which water settles and the soft 
mould resembles a mass of tenacious mud, then 
following the " trail "is a weariness to the flesh 
of man and beast. The roads of Manitoba must 
have much in common with the famous roads 
in the Highlands before the advent of General 
Wade. 

When England was supposed to be the land 
of mirth and song, the persons who regard 
those bygone days with regret would feel 
themselves disenchanted if they were suddenly 
transplanted to the gold age of their dreams. 
English roads vfere then in much the same state 
as those in Manitoba now. The Slough of 
Despond through which Bunyan makes Christian 
struggle at the beginning of his heavenward pil- 
grimage to the Celestial City, was doubtless copied 
from something which he had seen near Bedford. 
No clearer or more accurate representation of a 
Manitoba '' slew " has ever been furnished than 
that which Bunyan wrote by way of illustrating 
the obstacles which Christian had to face and 
surmount at the outset of his journey. Christian 



Ahtdholes, 251 

had but one to cross, whereas the pilgrims bound 
for the Canadian North- West have to cross 
hundreds. The stoutest-hearted emigrant who 
has resolved to settle on the Saskatchewan River 
and who has begun what he considers the last 
stage of his journey at the Capital of Manitoba, 
has felt his courage and confidence fail him long 
before he has reached the first town of importance. 
Between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie the 
mudholes are so many and so difficult to cross 
that, if they had intercepted Christian's path, he 
would inevitably have returned in despair to the 
City of Destruction. Many emigrants have seen 
them and turned back in dismay. Some explorers 
of the land have done likewise. One of the latter 
warned me against making an attempt which 
must end in failure, if not in the fracture of my 
neck. It is simply impossible to depict the diffi- 
culties caused by those "mudholes ;" as difficult 
is it to persuade the new comer that the "mud" 
which he regards with horror and disgust is the 
finest alluvial soil which can be found anywhere. 
It is no uncommon occurrence for a train of 
freight waggons, bound westward, to be detained 
several days in the " mudholes " which intersect 
the beaten path a few miles to the west of Winni- 
peg. The emigrants who have surmounted these 
obstacles to their progress and who remain con- 



252 The No7'th'West Territories, 

fident of ultimate success are the persons who 
not only deserve success but reap it. 

An emigrant who has made up his mind to seek 
a new home in Manitoha can easily prepare himself, 
before leaving home, for what he must encounter 
on the way to his homestead in the Canadian 
Far West. Let him practise crossing a newly- 
ploughed field for hours together with a horse 
and cart and pitching a tent at the end of his 
journey. Let him arrange so that there are fre- 
quent ponds in the field, these ponds being at least 
five hundred yards in width, having an average 
depth of four feet and a muddy bottom. If he be 
not disheartened by exercise of this kind he is well 
qualified for starting on a trip to the Canadian Far 
West during the wet season. He may be agreeably 
surprised at other seasons by finding the roads in 
a very different condition. In the autumn they 
are sometimes as dry and hard and smooth as a 
road paved with asphalte. During the winter 
months they are always good, for then the hard 
frozen snow covers the prairie and any vehicle in 
the form of a sledge skims over it as easily as 
a train runs along a line of rails. 

The emigrant or traveller who is prepared to 
camp out will find life on the prairie far less un- 
bearable than if he depend for shelter at night in 
a settler's hut. It is trying to toil along the miry 



Prairie Hotels, 253 

paths over which thirty miles are all that can be 
conveniently passed between sunrise and sunset, 
but the accommodation at the few stopping-places 
on the beaten track is quite as great a trial to the 
fastidious wayfarers. These prairie hotels are 
the rude log-houses erected by settlers who add to 
their incomes by entertaining travellers. They 
are commonly 18 feet long by 16 feet wide and 
are divided horizontally into two parts. On the 
ground floor is the place where the family and the 
visitors sit and take the meals which are cooked 
in a stove at the one end, the stove serving the 
double purpose of heating the house and affording 
the requisite facilities for cooking. In the upper 
story the occupants of the house pass the night. 
The food is plain and simple enough to satisfy 
the greatest foe to high living, consisting of fried 
salt pork, bread, potatoes and tea. Eggs and 
milk are luxuries rarely obtainable. Why the 
settlers do not rear poultry or keep cows is a 
question which I cannot answer. A few of them 
add to their incomes, not only by entertaining the 
strangers who present themselves, but also by 
levying a toll upon their vehicles. If a stream 
near their dwellings be difficult to ford, or if the 
" trail" be in good condition over their land, they 
construct a rude bridge across the stream and 
make the persons who use it or who pass over 



254 The North' West TerritoiHes, 

their land pay 25 cents eacTi. I found tliat some of 
these astute men put as much as $50 weekly into 
their pockets by so acting. The emigrants curse 
these imposts, but they have either to pay them or 
submit to serious inconvenience. The Govern- 
ment ought to see that the roads are kept in 
better order and that they are free to all who pass 
over them. I was told that the Provincial Govern- 
ment are awakening to their duty in this respect. 
If they give effect to their praiseworthy intentions, 
many a settler who has to travel over the prairie 
to his homestead, and to whom every dollar is 
precious, will grumble less about a matter which 
ought never to have formed one of his troubles. 

When I left Winnipeg for the Far West, the 
first place at which I halted for the night was 
Whitehorse Plains where Mr. House combines 
farming with innkeeping. He has been twenty 
years iu the country and he likes it very much. 
He regrets the good old days when game was 
plentiful, life was easy, when the settlers were 
few in number and hunters were in the majority. 
The road between Winnipeg and Portage la 
Prairie, the first place of any importance on the 
Western road and about 70 miles distant from 
the Capital, is worse than in any other part of 
the country I have visited. The population of 
Portage is 1200. It is the most westerly place 



Royal Commissioners in Manitoba. 255 

visited by Mr. Pell and Mr. Reade, the represen- 
tatives of the Royal Commission on Agriculture, 
during their scamper through Manitoba. I found 
that these gentlemen had made a deep impression 
upon those with whom they came into contact. 
It was admitted that, if they saw but little of 
the country, they were assiduous in rigorously 
questioning everybody they met. Both gentle- 
men expressed themselves greatly struck with 
what they saw and both admitted that Manitoba 
was a wonderful land. Mr. Reade embodied his 
feelings as a British farmer in terms which were 
certainly emphatic. Being asked what he 
thought of the country, he replied that he re- 
garded it in the same light that a lamb does the 
butcher. It is impossible to view the vast ex- 
panse of land covered with crops of wheat and of 
a still larger area of as good land still unculti- 
vated without arriving at the conclusion that the 
Manitoba farmers, who pay no rent, are dangerous 
rivals to British farmers who both pay rent and 
obtain a far smaller return for their labour. The 
average yield of wheat here is thirty-five bushels 
an acre. If the land were farmed with as much 
care as is the rule in Great Britain, the yield 
could be nearly doubled. 

The Hudson Bay Company have a store at the 
western division of Portage, under the care of 



256 The North- West Territories, 

Mr. Grigot. I found Mm a well-informed and 
most courteous gentleman of Glerman origin. I 
learned from him that the supply of furs has not 
yet fallen off. He told me that some wild 
animals are more plentiful now than before the 
arrival of so many 'settlers ; he explained this by 
saying that these animals have always been more 
numerous in particular years and that the last 
two years are remarkable in this respect. More- 
over, the hunters use more effectual weapons for 
kilhng them than in bygone days, so that the 
return is necessarily larger. It is obvious, how- 
ever, that the far-bearing animals which still 
abound here must disappear before the advance 
of civilization. 

I shall not mention in detail all the places at 
which I halted during the ten days that I 
journeyed through the North- West Territory. The 
farthest point I reached was Eapid City which, 
by the devious route I followed, is 200 miles to 
the west of Winnipeg. The weather was very 
bad during a part of the time and those persons 
who have traversed the prairie in an open waggon 
when snow or rain is falling will not wonder that 
I curtailed my journey. I could not, then, visit the 
young and aspiring city of Gladstone in the 
township of Palestine, of which I saw a plan 
representing it to possess many fine buildings 



y otirnalism at Rapid City, 2^j 

and parks, but whicli, like other young prairie 
cities, doubtless looks most attractive on paper. 
Not far fro it is tbe township of Beaconsfield 
which is less advanced than Gladstone city. In 
Beaconsfield there are only a few shanties and a 
post-office, whereas Gladstone has a population 
large enough to support a weekly journal, the 
Gladstone Neius. 

Eapid City is situated on the Little Saskat- 
chewan Eiver and seems destined to grow in size 
and importance, being the centre of a splendid 
agricultural district. It was two years old at the 
time of my visit. I counted 51^ houses and a 
saw mill, and I was told that the population 
numbered 400. A weekly journal the Rapid City 
Enterprise, after a life of six months, had just 
ceased to appear and the citizens were occupied 
in devising measures for supplying a successor to 
it. A young Canadian journalist arrived at the 
same time as myself, his purpose being to make 
an arrangement with the citizens.. It was agreed 
that he sho&ld receive a bonus of $500, an office 
rent free and a lot of land in a good situation, in 
the event of his publishing a journal for twelve 
months. The citizens were well pleased with the 
success of the Show of the Rapid City Agricultural 
Society, the first which had been held and one 
which they were glad to think was far better than 

s 



258 The North' West Territories, 

the first held in the City of Winnipeg. A thonsand 
visitofs came to see the sig^ht and the articles 
exhibited were highly creditable 'They com- 
prised all those commonly seen at Agricultural 
Exhibitions and some which would not be found 
at such an Exhibition in England. The latter 
consisted of articles manufactured in the locality 
.and of needlework, prizes being offered for the best 
set of horse-shoes and the best pair of gentle- 
man's or lady's boots, for the best panel door 
and window sash and the best pair of woollen 
socks and mitts, for the best rug or mat and the 
best sack of flour. All yarieties of needlework, 
from plain sewing to the most elaborate em- 
broidery, figured in the prize list. I thought it 
perfectly sensible to encourage local skill in all 
the cases where it can be turned to profitable 
account. When the railway is open the articles 
which have now to be made on the spot, will be 
made by machinery, and though brought from a 
distance, will be sold at a lower price than hand- 
made goods produced at home. It does credit to 
the managers of the Show that they offered a 
special prize to the Indians for the best display 
of agricultural products. 

The land in the vicinity of Rapid City is rolling 
prairie interspersed with small lakes ; the soil is 
lighter than that of Manitoba, yet it is nob less 



Success ftd Faj^mers. 259 

productive. Three miles to the South-West is 
" the English Reserve," a tract of land covering 
12 miles square and chiefly occupied by immi- 
grants from England. I visited some of the 
farms and I conversed with many of the settlers. 
Several had emigrated with too little capital, 
others had done so under the delusion that a 
knowledge of farming'' was not essential, and both 
those who had too little money and too little 
practical knowledge had found their task very 
severe. But I heard no other complaint than 
one to the effect that the country was too thinly 
peopled. All the practical farmers had done weU, 
having reaped large crops and obtained good 
prices for their produce. The wheat was pro- 
nounced by an expert who accompanied me to be 
the finest he had ever seen. An Ontario farmer, 
who had been here a year only, was enchanted with 
the country. His seed sown in a shallow furrow 
on the wild prairie had yielded a vast increase. 
The root crops surprised him most of all, potatoes 
grown on the prairie sod averaging 2 lbs. in 
weight and turnips from 15 to 20 lbs. each. Some 
of the farms were very charming. One of 320 
acres, obtained at the cost of 33Z. by a Hereford- 
shire farmer who had left England owing to the 
failure of his crops in 1879, was everything that 
any one could desire. A small lake lay in front 

s 2 



26o The North-West Territories. 

of the honse; a few trees grew close at liand, 
about twenty acres had been sown with wheat, a 
smaller portion had been devoted to root crops. 
A small patch before the door had been sown 
with flower seeds brought bj his daughter from 
the old home, and the sight of the flowers was as 
delightful to my eye as the large yields of grain 
and vegetables. More luxuriant mignonette I 
never saw before ; the flowers were gigantic and 
the delicious perfume was not impaired by the 
size of the plants. I was so struck with these 
flowers as to carry away specimens, being con- 
vinced that they were as curious as any specimens 
of agricultural products and quite as striking 
testimonies to the goodness of the soil and 
climate. If the settler in Manitoba be not con- 
tented, he has but to migrate to the North-West 
Territories in order to find a still better farming 
country. There is plenty of room for all comers 
in these Territories ; they cover more than two 
and a half million square m_iles. A low estimate 
of the finest land available for settlement shows 
that there is ample room here for a population 
three times larger than that of the British Isles. 

The Hon. David Laird, Grovernor of the North- 
West Territories, was on a tour of inspection 
during my visit, and I had the gratification of 
much personal intercourse with him. He is a 



Ho7iie of the Buffalo, 261 

native of Prince Edward Island ; he admits that 
the fertile soil and pleasant climate of his island 
home are quite matched by those of the great 
country over which he is now placed in authority. 
He even thinks that Battleford, the capital of 
these Territories, is healthier than that of any 
other part of Canada. Though the attention of 
the world has been concentrated on this region 
owing to its reputed value for grain producing, 
yet, in Governor Laird's opinion, the region is 
even better adapted for rearing cattle. He de- 
scribed a tract of country not far from the base 
of the Eocky Mountains which has long been the 
home of the buffalo, and v^hich is unrivalled for 
stock rearing; it is 360 miles long by 100 broad; 
it is covered with rich grasses, and the climate is 
so temperate that cattle can remain all the winter 
in the open air with impunity. Underneath the 
soil, throughout the whole of this tract, there are 
beds of lignite of the best quality, the lignite 
burning nearly as well as ordinary coal. 

I was pleased to learn that the Indians are 
giving no further trouble than to make appeals 
for food when the season is unusually inclement. 
Some of these Indians are setting an excellent 
example to their brethren. When Governor 
Laird went to Battleford in 1877 he found a body 
of Crees, numbering 600, encamped there. He 



262 The North' V/ est Territories, 

persuaded them to leave a place where they had 
no right to remain, and to settle on a spot to the 
south wliich belonged to them. The Rev. Mr. 
Clark, a Church of England missionary, was 
labouring among these Crees. He had gained 
their confidence, and he induced them to begin 
cultivating the soil. He showed them how to set 
to work, and in 1878 they had good crops of 
potatoes. In 1879 they had crops of various 
sorts of vegetables and of some kinds of grain 
sufficient to provide for their wants, and 
leave them a surplus to sell. Other Indians 
are copying what the Crees have done, and it 
is probable that the experiment so successfully 
begun on a small scale will prove of inestimable 
benefit to the Indians as a body. They must 
cultivate the soil, be fed by the Government 
or starve. Year after year buffalo are growing 
scarcer. Once the Indians become habituated to 
tilling the soil, they will give even less trouble 
than they now do to the Canadian Government. 

Out of consideration for the Indians and in 
continuance of the policy of the Hudson Bay 
Company, the sale and manufacture of intoxicants 
are absolutely prohibited throughout the North- 
West Territories. The Governor-General of the 
Dominion is alone empowered to give a licence 
for manufacturing intoxicants there, while the 



Sale of Intoxicants Prohibited. 263 

Lieutenant-Governor of the Territories may issue 
a licence allowing tbem to be sold or kept, under 
the condition of making an annual return to the 
Minister of the Interior of the licences issued and 
of the quantity and nature of the intoxicants to 
which they refer, that return to be laid before 
Parliament. Owing to attempts to defeat the 
operation of such an Act the definition of intoxi- 
cants is made to include every conceivable form 
of intoxicating beverage or solid substance, the 
words of the Act being : '* The expression ' intoxi- 
cating liquor' shall mean and include all spirits, 
strong waters, spirituous liquors, wines, fer- 
mented or compounded liquors or intoxicating 
fluids; and the expression 'intoxicant' shall 
include opium or any preparation thereof, and 
any other intoxicating drug or substance, and 
tobacco or tea mixed, compounded or impregnated 
with opium, or with any other intoxicating drug, 
spirit or substance, and whether the same or any 
of them be liquid or solid." Though not himself 
a total abstainer on principle, the Governor has 
become one during his term of oflBce on the 
ground that he could not well enforce the Act if 
he made himself an exception to its provisions. 
He is beset with applications for licences ; indeed, 
the enforcement of the law against the use of 
intoxicants gives him more annoyance and labour 
than any other of his duties. He thinks the pro- 
hibitive system works w^ell on the whole. Whether 



2 64 The Nojdh- West Tenntories. 

it can be upheld when the country is more densely 
populated remains to be seen. The newly-arriyed 
settlers complain bitterly about the Act. An 
English farmer's wife told me that she missed her 
glass of beer at dinner more than anything else, 
and that if she could enjoy it again, she would nob 
regret having left her old home. 

At present, the Goyerning body of the l!^orth- 
West Territories is nominated by the Governor- 
General in Council; provision is made, however, 
for the nominated being transformed into an 
elected body. Whenever any district of 1000 
square miles contains a population of not less 
than 1000 adults, exclusive of aliens or unenfran- 
chized Indians, the Lieutenant-Governor may pro- 
claim it an Electoral District and desire the people 
to return a representative. Should the number 
of adults rise to 2000 then a second representa- 
tive may be returned. When the Council shall 
consist of 21 elected members then it shall cease 
to be a Council and will become the Legislative 
Assembly of the Forth- West Territories. This 
transformation is now in progress and, when it is 
completed, it will be seen whether the people 
desire to continue the prohibitions as to intoxicants 
which are now imposed upon them by the Dominion 
Parliament. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

THE CANADIAN FAR WEST. 

It is a misfortune tliat tlie most widely-read 
descriptions of the vast and sparsely peopled 
region of Canada, extending from Lake Superior to 
the Eocky Mountains, chiefly relate to its appear- 
ance in the winter season. Hence the notion 
prevails that the " Great Lone Land " is an illimit- 
able wilderness, covered with snow and intersected 
with frozen rivers over which people journey on 
sledges drawn by unruly dogs. All countries in 
the temperate zone have their winter, yet it pro- 
duces a misleading impression to depict them as 
if the winter state were the normal one. I have 
seen snow lying thickly in sunny Provence and 
in the Riviera along the Mediterranean which is 
supposed to be an Earthly Paradise, and I have 
felt the cold more keenly there than I have done 
when Fabrenheit's thermometer indicated 20"^ 
below zero in the coldest part of the North 



266 The Canadian Far West 

American Coniment. A lesson soon learnt, and 
not rapidly forgotten by the visitor to the part of 
JN'orth America where the winters are most severe, 
is that the position of mercury in a thermometer 
is no criterion of the cold experienced. So long 
as the air is still, any person warmly clad is 
almost insensible to cold. When the tempera- 
ture is at the lowest point in Manitoba, it is the 
rule for the air to be absolutely still. At Pan, in. 
the Pyrenees, the thermometer frequently falls 
far lower in winter than at Nice on the Mediter- 
ranean; but, as the atmosphere is so calm at 
Pan that, for days or weeks together, not a 
breath of wind stirs the withered leaves on the 
trees, the sensation of cold is much less than in 
the warmer but more agitated air of Mce. 
During a Canadian winter, the sky is clear and 
the sun shines brightly day after day, and hence, 
though the mercury may be very low and the 
indicated cold very great, the feeling is one not 
of depression but of exhilaration, and the fact of 
the cold seems to be forgotten. Admiral Sir 
George Back told a Select Committee of the 
House of Commons in 1857, that at Fort Reliance, 
near the Arctic Ocean, he had seen Fahrenheit's 
thermometer indicate 70° below zero. Being 
asked as to the effect of the extreme cold on 
himself and his party, he replied, " I cannot say 



Western Winters, 267 

that onr health was affected differently to what 
it would be in any other extreme cold ; perhaps 
the appetite was considerably increased." 

Professor H. Y. Hind, being questioned on the 
subject of chmate by a Committee of the Dominion 
House of Commons in 1878, said, " The winter 
cold of Manitoba is greater than the winter 
cold on the coast of Labrador. But it is a dry 
uniform cold, and it is very far less inconvenient 
to the senses, or in any other way, than the 
moist cold of Labrador." Professor Bryce of the 
University of Manitoba, gives the following cor- 
roborative testimony : '' The winters of the North- 
West, upon the whole, are agreeable and singularly 
steady. The mocassin is dry and comfortable 
throughout, and no thaw, strictly speaking, takes 
place till spring, no matter how mild the weather 
may be. The snow, though shallow, wears well, 
and differs greatly from eastern snow. Its flake 
is dry and hard, and its gritty consistence re- 
sembles white slippery sand more than anything 
else. Generally speaking, the further west the 
shallower the snow, and the rule obtains even 
into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. In 
south-eastern Ontario the winter is milder, no 
doubt, than at Red River; but the soil of the 
North- West beats the soil of Ontario out of 
comparison ; and after all, who would care to 
iixchange the crisp, sparkling, exhilarating winter 
of Manitoba for the rawness of Essex in Soath 
Ontario?" 



268 The Canadian Far West, 

A common mistake is to assume that wliat 
applies to one part of the Canadian Far West is 
true of the whole. No man can speak of the 
whole from personal knowledge. A great part 
has not even been explored. The extent of this 
territory is so vast that the mind cannot form a 
clear conception of it from statistics. To say that 
its area is 2,764,340 square miles is merely to set 
forth large figures. A clearer and more striking 
idea of the enormous expanse may be formed 
when I add that it is seven hundred thousand 
square miles larger than the German Empire, 
France, Spain, Italy and Russia in Europe put 
together. These countries support a population 
exceeding 180,000,000. In the Canadian Far 
West, the population, including Indians, is 
probably under 200,000. It is not thought an 
extravagant estimate to put the future popu- 
lation of this territory, when it shall have been 
rendered easily accessible, and when its advan- 
tages have exercised their full effect in attracting 
settlers, at nearly 100,000,000. Sanguine ob- 
servers maintain that the country can support a 
population of twice that amount. 

A territory so vast is exposed to varied natural 
conditions. The fauna and flora differ in 
different places ; the soil is not everywhere the 
same, and the climate is as diverse as the soil. 



Climate, Soil and Minerals. 269 

Every liundred miles to tlie west of "Winnipeg 
there is an increase in tlie temperature and, when 
the part is reached where the warm wind from 
the Pacific — the Chinook as it is called locally — 
makes its influence felt, the change in the climate 
is very marked. There the snowfall is light. 
Indeed, at the summit of the Yellow Head pass 
through the Eocky Mountains, snow melts as it 
falls. In the grazing-ground at the eastern 
base of these mountains cattle remain out all 
winter, finding their own food. Everything 
necessary for the sustenance of man is provided 
in this region. Farming or cattle-rearing is not 
the only industry J3y which wealth may be ac- 
quired. There is ample scope for the miner and 
even for the manufacturer. Beds of lignite and 
ironstone extend over hundreds of miles, so that 
a little enterprise is alone wanted for the esta- 
blishment of iron foundries and factories of all 
kinds at the base of the Eocky Mountains. 

I cannot too often repeat that farmers act 
unwisely in going to the fertile West, unless 
they can get their produce conveyed to market at 
a low price. If the price of grain be very low atf 
New York or Liverpool, the farmer who is at the 
furthest point from either place is at the greatest 
disadvantage. The price which he obtains for his 
grain is lessened by the cost of carrying it to 



270 The Canadian Far West, 

market, wliile his own outlay in growing it will 
be as great as that of a farmer wlio is within 
easy reach of the place of sale. It is certain that, 
if the Canadian Far West be peopled in pro- 
portion to its capacity, and if the population 
grow wheat to the extent that is possible, then 
the conveyance of this surplus to market will be 
the most import^ant problem to solve. Farmers 
have found in the United States that, by settling 
too far West, the cost of transport eats up all the 
profit which they would make by growing grain 
if the market were nearer at hand. 

The Canadian Far West cannot be fully 
yjeopled until it is more accessible to immigrants; 
hence it is that the Canadian Pacific Railway is 
imperatively necessary. Upon that railway the 
agricultural population must chiefly depend for 
transporting their produce to market. There is 
room and there will be employment for a second 
trunk line two hundred miles to the north of the 
one now in course of construction. An inde- 
pendent line, the South Western, is to run three 
hundred miles west of Winnipeg, between the 
^boundary-line and the Canadian Pacific, opening 
up the rich country in what is called the Turtle 
Mountain district. 

I have journeyed over several hundred miles of 
the Canadian Pacific between Winnipeg and 



Sir George Simpsoii s Prophecy, ■ 271 

Tliunder Bay and I was impressed with tlie 

advantage of the line for developing local, as well 

as for accommodating through traffic. This part 

of the country has attracted, less notice of late 

than the Western prairie land. It is a region of 

lakes and wood, interspersed with tracts of fertile 

soil where crops could be grown, and expanses of 

meadow whereon cattle could be reared. In 

several parts mineral discoveries of importance 

have been made. I saw specimens of gold quartz 

taken from an island in one of the lakes. I was 

told that an abundance of quartz equally rich had 

been found ; if it be true that quantities of quartz 

rich in visible gold are obtainable, then gold 

mining will become a most remunerative industry 

here. This, added to its other advantages, will 

lead to the peopling of the. region between Lake 

Superior and Winnipeg quite as rapidly as that 

of the agricultural region farther west. It may 

be that the prophecy made by Sir George 

Simpson in 1841, after he had been twenty years 

Governor of the Hudson Bay territory, may be 

speedily fulfilled, a prophecy which, it is fair to 

add, he stated in 1857 was made in a fit of 

enthusiasm. Writing about Rainy Pviver which 

connects the Lake of that name with the Lake of 

the Woods, Sir George stated :—" From Port 

Frances downwards, a stretch of nearly one 



272 The Canadian Far West, 

hundred miles, it is not interrupted by a single 
impediment, while yet the current is not strong 
enough materially to retard an ascending 
traveller. Nor are the banks less favourable 
to agriculture than the waters themselves to 
navigation, resembling, in some measure, those 
of the Thames near Richmond. From the very 
brink of the river, there rises a gentle slope of 
greensward, crowned in many places with a 
plentiful growth of birch, poplar, beech, elm and 
oak. Is it too much for the eye of philanthropy 
to discern, through the vista of futurity, this 
noble stream, connecting, as it does, the fertile 
shores of two spacious lakes, with crowded 
steamboats on its bosom, and populous towns on 
its borders ? " 

The impression made upon me when I passed 
over nearly a hundred miles of the line to the 
West of Winnipeg was that there, too, local 
trafiSc would be developed. The total length of 
line required to connect the present Canadian 
railways with the Pacific ocean is 2627 miles. 
The struggle over the choice of routes, and over 
the way in which to carry out the undertaking, 
has been protracted and severe. A Syndicate 
has been entrusted with the execution of the 
gigantic work. The conditions under which the 
Syndicate enters upon its labours were thus set 
foVth in the Dominion Parliament by Sir Charles 
Tupper, Minister of Railways : " For that portion 



Canadian Pacific Railway. 273 

of the line from Fort William to Selkirk, 410 
miles, the Pembina branch, 85 miles, and that 
portion from Kamloops to Burrard Inlet, 217 
miles — all of which, amounting to 712 miles when 
the line is completed, is to be banded over as the 
property of the Company. The total amount 
expended and to be expended by the Govern- 
ment, including everything, is 28 million dollars. 
For the construction of the road from Lake 
Nipissing to Fort William, 650 miles, and 
from Selkirk to Kamloops, 1350 miles— 2000 
miles in all — the Grovernment have agreed to pay, 
in addition to the 28 miUions, 25 million dollars 
and 25 million acres of land; making a total 
subsidy, in cash, of 53 millions, and in land 
estimating the 25 million acres at the same rate 
that I have estimated the land under the contract 
of 1873, and under the estimate of the Act of 
187-^, one dollar an acre, of 25 million dollars, or 
a total amount to be expended by Canada for the 
construction of the Canadian Pacific Eailway of 
78 million dollars." 

While the Canadian Pacific Railway will shorten 
the journey between Liverpool and Yokohama or 
Hong Kong, and while it will both link together 
the Provinces of the Dominion and aid in deve- 
loping their resources, it will not entirely solve 
the problem of transporting agricultural produce 
at the cheapest rate from the Canadian Far West 
to Europe. In the United States the route by 
way of the Mississippi has an enormous advantage 

T 



2 74 ^'^^^ Canadian Far West, 

over any other; wlieat can be carried from St. 
Paul, the capital of Minnesota, down the Missis- 
sippi in barges to New Orleans, where it is trans- 
ferred to steamers bound for Glasgow, at 38 cents 
a bushel. It ought to be possible to sell this wheat 
on arriving at its destination at a lower price than 
the prevailing one. With the great river as a 
silent and easy highway, the farmers in the 
Mississippi Yalley can successfully compete with 
farmers in other parts of the Union. 

In the important matter of water-carriage the 
farmer in the Canadian Far West has unrivalled 
advantages. The navigable rivers cover a dis- 
tance of 11,000 miles, of which 4000 only have as 
yet been turned to account. The distance from 
AYinnipeg to the mouth of the St. Lawrence is 
2500 miles, and the transit of bulky articles over 
this intervening space would be costly. But, if 
instead of choosing the route of the St. Lawrence 
as the outlet to the Atlantic, the route by Hudson 
Bay be chosen, then Winnipeg may be brought 
within two days' journey by rail and water from 
the sea. 

For two centuries the Hudson Bay Company 
sent their stores into what is now the Canadian 
Far West, and took their furs out of it in sailinof 
ships which plied between England and the Bay. 
The Nelson River connects Lake Winnipeg with 



Hudson Bay Rotcte, 



/o 



Hudson Bay ; it is a vast stream, draining an area 
of 3 GO, 000 square miles, and is six miles wide at 
its month. Tliereare impediments to the continuous 
navigation of the river by large vessels, but these 
have not hindered canoes being used for the pur- 
pose. It is proposed, however, to make a railway 
over the 370 miles which intervene between. the 
lower part of Lake Winnipeg and the mouth of 
the Nelson Ei^rer. Grain could be stored at 
Port Nelson and conveyed to England in steamers 
during the season of navigation. Professor 
Hind considers '' the head of tide- water in Nelson 
Eiver may yet become the seat of the Archangel 
of Central British America, and the great and 
ancient Russian northern port — at one time the 
sole outlet of that vast empire — find its parallel 
in Hudson Bay.'' The water-route by Nelson or 
Hayes Eiver from Hudson Bay to the interior has 
proved available for the purposes of trade since 
the incorporation of the Company in 1670. In 
1846 the route was used to convey troops and found 
suitable. A force consisting of a wing of the 6th 
Foot, a detachment of Artillery and a detachment 
of Eoyal Engineers, with one 9-pounder and three 
6-pounders and numbering 18 officers, 329 men, 
17 women and 19 children, made the journey by 
boat from Hudson Bay to Eed Eiver in about 30 
days. Colonel Crofton, who was in command, 

T 2 



276 The Canadian Fa7^ West, 

made tlie journey in seven clays' less time. The 
current being strong, it takes far longer to make 
the journey up stream; including stoppages it 
has been made down stream, in loaded boats, 
within nine days. If steam launches were substi- 
tuted for the boats propelled by hand, the time 
would be decreased. But it is proposed to dispense 
with the river altogether, and to make a narrow 
gauge railway from the northern end of Lake 
Winnipeg to Hudson Bay and a charter has been 
granted for such a railway. There is a difference 
of opinion whether Fort Churchill may not be 
a preferable port to Port Nelson. But there is 
agreement as to the feasibility of reopening com- 
munication between England and the Canadian 
Far West by way of Hudson Bay. 

It is true that the navigation of Hudson Bay is 
only open for steamers during five months in 
each year, yet, during that time, it would be easy 
to export all the produce which may be destined 
for the markets of Europe, and to import all the 
goods which might be required in exchange. 
The distance from Port JSTelson to Liverpool is 
nearly a hundred miles less than from JSTew York. 
It is estimated that when steamers shall ply 
between Hudson Bay and the Mersey, the Clyde 
or the Thames, it will be possible to sell Mani- 
toba wheat in the United Kingdom at 28s. a 
quarter and to do so at as large a profit as that 



Riva I Regions, 277 

now obtained from tlie sale of United States 
wheat at 48s. Should that day arrive the British 
farmer must renounce growing wheat ; he can 
barely hold his own now with his rival in the 
United States ; he cannot possibly compete here- 
after with his brother in Manitoba. It may then 
be found that the desperate struggle in progress 
between farmers in this country and their com- 
petitors across the Atlantic will arise between the 
farmers on the opposite sides of the boundary- 
line in North America. The Manitoba farmer 
will hereafter be able to defy rivalry in the 
markets of Europe. 

No question is more fiercely debated than the 
relative advantcages of different parts of the North 
American Continent. If a stranger to the 
country listened to the evidence adduced in 
favour of a particular State in the Union, or a 
particular Province of Canada to the exclusion 
of any other State or Province, he would think 
that a conclusive case had been made out. 
Shoul'd he listen to the statements made about all 
of them, he will be either completely puzzled or 
remarkably acute in sifting and weighing facts. 
Instead of giving my own conclusion concerning 
the Canadian Far West as a place for settlers, I shall 
cite the conclusion of a thoroughly competent and 
impartial investigator, who has long studied the 
matter on the spot and who is justly regarded as 



27S The Canadian Far West, 

an autLoritj. This is Mr. J. W. Taylor, fclie 
United States Consul at Winnipeg, wlio has 
served his country there since 1870, Like all 
his countrymen, he is a firm believer in the great 
destiny reserved for the United States, yet his 
patriotism has not blinded him to the attractions 
and resources of the part of the Canadian 
Dominion wherein he resides. 

Mr. Taylor's opinion, enunciated in many 
speeches and writings, is that the l^orth American 
Continent is divisible into three zones, the southern 
being the Cotton-growing zone, the mid-zone being 
specially adapted for the growth of Indian corn, 
and the northern for the production of wheat. 
He holds that the mid-zone extends to Southern 
Minnesota : he stated in a pubHc speech '' that 
three -fourths of the wheat-producing belt would 
be north of the International boundary." In a 
letter to the Piooieer Press of Saint Paul, he gave 
the following reasons, among others, upon which 
he based bis conclusion: ''In 1871, Mr. Archi- 
bald, the well-known proprietor of the Dun das 
Mills, in Southern Minnesota, visited Manitoba. 
He remarked that the spring wheat in his vicinity 
was deteriorating — rsoftening, and he sought a 
change of seed, to restore its flinty texture. He 
timed his visit to Winnipeg with the harvest and 
found the quality of grain he desired, but the 
yield astonished him. ' Look,' said he, with a 



Perfect Wheat Plants. 2 79 

head of wheat in his hand ; ' we have had an ex- 
cellent harvest in Llinnesota, bnt I never saw 
more than two well-formed grains in each group 
or cluster, forming a row, but here the rule is 
three grains in each cluster. That's the difference 
between twenty and thirty bushels per acre.' 
More recently, Professor Maccoun, the botanist 
of the Pacific Railway Survey, has shown me two 
heads of wheat, one from Prince Albert, a settle- 
ment near the forks of the Saskatchewan, latitude 
63 degrees, longitude 106 degrees, and another 
from Port Vermillion, on Peace River, latitude 
59 degrees, longitude 116 degrees, and from each 
cluster of the two I separated ^yq well-formed 
grains, with a correspondmg length of the head. 
Here was the perfection of the wheat plant, 
attained according to the well-known physical 
law, near the most northern limit of its successful 
growth. Permit me another illustration on the 
testimony of Professor Maccoun. When at a 
Hudson Bay post of the region in question — 
either Fort McMurray, in latitude 57 degrees, or 
Fort "Yer million in latitude 59 degrees, and about 
the longitude of Great Salt Lake, an employee of 
the post invited him to inspect a strange plant 
in his garden, grown from a few seeds never 
before seen in that locality. He found cucumber 
vines planted in April in the open ground, and 
with the fruit ripened on the 20th of August." 

There is a physical cause why wheat grown in 
the northern region of Manitoba should be su- 
perior to that grown in the United States to the 



2 So The Canadian Far West, 

south of it. Tlie nearer tlie nortlierly limit 
at wliicli wheat will grow, the finer is its 
quality. At the northern limit of its growth on 
this Continent, not only is the soil adapted for it, 
but the duration of sunshine is longest there when 
the ears are ripening. From the loth of June 
till the 1st of July nearly two hours more daylight 
prevail in northern Manitoba than in the State of 
Ohio. It is not heat alone which is required to 
bring the wheat plant to perfection even in places 
where the soil is best adapted for its growth. 
This is true of all grain as well as of all vegetables. 
Other conditions being present, the greater the 
amount of solar light the better the result. ISTow, 
wheat grown in the Canadian North- West is 
grown under incomparable advantages with re- 
spect to the length of sunlight ; hence, that wheat 
is of the hardest description, is adapted for pro- 
ducing the very finest flour and is certain to prove 
the most remunerative crop. The acreage suited 
for the growth of wheat in this region is large 
enough to furnish bread for the whole of Europe. 

II. 

The facts which can be adduced in support of 
the Canadian Far West being second to no part 
of the Northern American Continent cannot be 
gainsaid. It does not follow, however, that every 



The '' Land of Afiseryr 281 

settler there is entirely happy. Many settlers have 
failed to profit by their opportunities. Some have 
expected too much; others are unsuccessful be- 
cause they do too little. There is no royal road 
to fortune in any new land. In the fairest spot 
on the earth the hardest worker will reap the 
richest harvest, while the idler will be unable to 
earn a living. Last year, the l^ew York Herald 
gave publicity to letters from settlers in Manitoba 
who complained that the country was utterly un- 
fitted for cultivation. That enterprising journal 
thereupon dubbed it the '' Land of Misery." If 
the early settlers in YirgiDia and Kew England 
had been men of the same calibre as these 
grumblers, they would never have developed the 
resources of Virginia or made New England the 
home of a prosperous community. The first 
comers in any undeveloped country are like the 
first occupants of a new house. The house may 
be well built, yet it lacks innumerable appliances 
which 'render it a comfortable dwelling. The 
next tenants find it far better fitted for occupation 
than their predecessors, and every succeeding 
dweller in it profits by something which has been 
added to render it more habitable.. So with land 
whichi may be capable of growing crops and feed- 
ing millions, but which, in its virgin state, is little 
better than a desert. The next generation will 



282 The Canadian Far West. 

find tlie Canadian Far West a very different 
country from wliat it is to-day. Marshes will 
liave been drained, roads will liaye been made, 
railways will be in operation ; the soil will yield 
more abundantly, and the labour of living will be 
lightened. When its inhabitants hereafter read 
that it was once styled the " Land of Misery,'* 
they will marvel at the credulity, or the ignorance 
which dictated the phrase. 

Eulogy from those personally interested, cannot 
permanently render a tract of country, which i^ 
naturally unsuitable for human beings, a pleasant 
land wherein to dwell, nor will depreciation on the 
part of the envious or uninformed hinder a tract, 
possessing every advantage which Nature can 
confer, from being appreciated and developed. 
Unless the Canadian Far West possess all the 
charms which retain as well as attract settlers, 
it will relapse into a wilderness over which 
the savage will again roam and the wild beast 
multiply. I have no apprehension as to its 
future. My opinion is based upon what I have 
beheld. I admit that persons who implicitly 
trust the fascinating tales circulated by specu- 
lators in land rpaybe grievously disappointed. It 
is as hazardous to buy land anywhere without 
personal inspection, as it is for a person who has 
no special knowledge of horseflesh or art to rely 



A Terrestrial Paradise. 283 

upon the assurance of a speculator in horses or 
pictures. In North America, it is easier to buy 
land than to sell it. The risk is diminished when 
the purchaser of land in the Canadian Far West 
deals with respectable and responsible bodies like 
the Hudson Bay Company or the Pacific Eailway 
Syndicate, yet in all cases, the purchaser ought to 
examine his bargain before paying his money. 
He will display both shrewdness and prudence 
should he visit the Homestead of 160 acres, which 
he obtains as a free grant from the Government, 
before occupying it. 

The predominant feeling in my breast as I 
traversed a part of what the late Earl Beacon sfield 
termed the " illimitable wilderness " of Western 
Canada was deep regret that such a region should 
remain untenanted by busy men. There, year 
after year the summer sun floods with warmth 
millions of acres where beautiful prairie flowers 
bloom and wither, and nutritious grasses spring up 
and decay. The snows of winter cover the earth 
with a garment which, though apparently a cold 
shroud, is really a warm mantle. Game breeds and 
dies without yielding food to more than a few 
hunters. Fish spawn and fill the lakes and rivers 
without being utihzed to vary or constitute the sub- 
sistence of more than afew Indians. When I thought 
of the millions of people who might be fed and rear 



284 The Canadian Far West, 

families on the nntrodden prairies, and enjoy tbe 
game and the fish which abound, it saddened me 
to contemplate the neglect with which Nature's 
banquet was treated. And the sadness deepened 
when I reflected how many landless millions in 
Europe were struggling for the necessaries of 
life, or were longing to be the possessors of land 
which they might call their own, whilst food 
was easily procurable here by all who might desire 
it, and land could be had for the asking by all 
comers. I have seen a large part of the North 
American Continent. I have marvelled at the 
enterprise which has converted so much of it from 
a wilderness into a garden. No other tract can so 
easily undergo the same transformation as the 
Canadian Far West. I cannot believe that it will 
long remain unappreciated and unpeopled. 

The result of the settlement of the Canadian 
Far West will be of paramount importance in 
shaping the destiny of Canada. Many persons 
speculate as to the future of the Dominion. The 
theme is a tempting one, but its adequate discus- 
sion is not easy. Confederation dates from the 
year 1867; the Dominion, as now constituted, 
dates from the accession of Prince Edward Island 
in 1873. The settlement of Manitoba, the con- 
struction of the Pacific Railway, the opening of 
steam navigation through Hudson Bay to Europe, 



Canada s Fzititre, 285 

are elements of tlie greatest moinent ip determin- 
ing tlie destiny of Canada, and several years mnst 
yet elapse before the influence of these elements 
is apparent. Men for whom I have the highest 
respect have pronounced incorporation with the 
United States to be Canada's inevitable fate. In 
such a matter as this I hold prediction to be 
wholly vain. It would not be hard to frame a 
plausible argument to the effect that the " manifest 
destiny " of Switzerland was to be absorbed by 
adjacent and more powerful countries; yet the 
Swiss entertain no doubt about preserving their in- 
dependence and they consider that they are fully 
warranted in so doing. It is clear to my mind that 
the future of Canada is in the hands of the Cana- 
dians. Upon them rests the responsibility, and with 
them is the opportunity of shaping the issues which 
determine their destiny. A heavier responsibility or 
a grander opportunity never fell to the lot of a 
people. Should they fail in making Canada what 
it may become, the fault will be their own and not 
that of their magnificent Far West which, in 
all physical advantages and potentialities, cannot 
easily be matched and cannot anywhere be sur- 
passed. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

WEEDS m NOETH AMERICA. 

All visitors to NortH America must have marvelled 
at tlie luxuriance of the weeds along everj roadside. 
Their number is very great and they are often 
very beautiful. I wished to write something about 
them when I met with the following article in the 
Union Advocate of Newcastle, New Brunswick. I 
think that the readers of this volume will approve 
of my reprinting the article, and thus enabhng 
them to share in the pleasure with which I perused 
it and to obtain the information of which it is full. 
" The walker makes the acquaintance of all the 
weeds. They are travellers like himself, the 
tramps of the vegetable world. They are going 
east, west, north, south; they walk, they fly, tbey 
swim, they steal a ride, they travel by rail, by 
flood, by wind ; they go underground, and they go 
above, across lots and by the highway. But, like 
other tramps, they find it safest by the highway ; 
in the fields they are intercepted and cut off, but 



Weeds in North America, 287 

on the public road, every boj, every passing herd 
of sheep or cows gives them a lift. 

'' Ours is a very weedy country because it is a 
roomy country. Weeds love a wide margin, and 
they find it here. You shall see more weeds in 
one day's travel in this country than in a week's 
journey in Europe. Our culture of the soil is not 
so close and thorough, our occupancy not so 
entire and exclusive. The weeds take up with 
the farmers' leavings, and find good fare. One 
may see a large slice taken from a field by elecam- 
pane, or by teasel, or by milk-weed ; whole pas- 
tures given up to white-weed, golden-rod, wild 
carrots, or ox-eye daisies ; meadows overran with 
bear-weed, and sheep pastures nearly ruined by 
St. John's wort or the Canada thistle. Our farms 
are so large and our husbandry so loose that we 
do not mind these things. By and by we shall 
clean them out. Weeds seem to thrive here as 
in no other country. When Sir Joseph Hooker 
landed in New England a few years ago, he was 
surprised to find how the European plants 
flourished there. He found the wild chicory grow- 
ing far more luxuriantly than he had ever seen it 
elsewhere, ' forming a tangled mass of stems and 
branches, studded with torquoise blue blossoms, 
and covering acres of ground.' This is one of 
the weeds that Emerson puts in his bouquet, in 
his ' Humble-bee ' — 

* Succory to match the sky.' 

" Is there not something in our soil and climate 



288 Weeds in Noi^th Amei'ica, 

exceptionally favourable to weeds — sometliing 
harsh, ungenial, sharp-toothed that is akin to 
them ? How woody and rank and fibrous many 
varieties become, lasting the whole season, and 
standing np stark and stiff through the deep 
winter snows — dessicated, preserved by our dry 
air ! Do nettles and thistles bite so sharply in 
any other country ? To know how sharply they 
bite, of a dry August or September day, take a 
turn at raking and binding oats with a sprinkling 
of blind nettles in them. A sprinkling of wasps 
and hornets would not be much worse. 

'' Yet it is a fact that all our more pernicious 
weeds, like our vermin, are of Old World origin. 
They hold up their heads and assert themselves 
here, and take their fill of riot and licence ; they 
are avenged for their long years of repression by 
the stern hand of European agriculture. Until I 
searched through the botanies I was not aware to 
what extent we were indebted to Europe for those 
vegetable Ishmaelites. We have hardly a weed we 
can call our own ; I recall but three that are at all 
noxious or troublesome, viz. : milk-weed, rag- 
weed, and golden-rod : but who would miss the 
latter from our fields and highways ? 

'Along the roadside, like the flowers of gold 
That tawny locas for their gardens wrought. 
Heavy with sunshine droops the golden- rod,' 

sings Whittier. In Europe our golden-rod is 
cultivated in the flower-gardens, as well it might 
be. The native species is found mainly in the 
woods, and is much less showy than ours. 



Weeds in North Ame7'{ccu 289 

" Our milk- weed is tenacious of life ; its roots 
lie deep, as if to get away from the plough, but 
it seldom infests cultivation crops. Then its stalk 
is so full of milk and its pod so full of silk that 
one cannot but ascribe good intentions to it, if it 
does sometimes overrun the meadow. 

*In dusty pods the milk-weed 
Its hidden silk has spun.' 

sings ' H. H.' in her ' September.' 

"Of our rag-weed not much can be set down 
that is complimentary, except that its name in the 
botany is Amhrosia^ food of the gods. It must 
be the food of the gods if of anything, for, so far 
as I have observed, nothing terrestrial eats it, not 
even billygoats. Asthmatic people dread it, and 
the gardener makes short work of it. It is about 
the only one of our weeds that follows the plough 
and the harrow, and except that it is easily de- 
stroyed I would suspect it to be an immigrant 
from the Old World, Our fleabane is a trouble- 
some weed at times, but good husbandry makes 
short work of it. 

"But all the other outlaws of the farm and 
garden come to us from over the seas ; and what 



a long list it is : — 




The common thistle, 
The Canada thistle, 


Elecampane, 
Plantain, 


Burdock, 


Motherwort, 


"Wild carrot. 
Yellow dock, 
Ox-e3^e daisy, 
Camomile, 


Stramoniuro, 
Catnip, 
GiU,, 
Blue-weed, 


The mullein, 


Stick-weed, 



u 



2QO Weeds in North Ame^dca, 

Hound's-toiigue, Mallow, 

Henbane, Darnel, 

Pig-weed, Poison liemlock, 

Quitch grass, Hop clover, 

Nightshade, Yarrow, 

Buttercup, Wild radish, 

Dandelion, Wild parsnip, 

Shepherd's purse, Chicory, 

J AVild mustard, Live-for-ever, 

St. John's wort. Toad-flax, 

Chickweed, Sheep-sorrel, 
Purslane, 

and others less noxious. To offset tMs list we 
have given Europe the vilest of all weeds, a parasite 
that sucks up human blood, tobacco. Now if 
they catch the Colorado beetle of us, it will go 
far towards paying them off for the rats and the 
mice, and for other pests in our houses. 

" The most attractive and pretty of the British 
weeds, as the common daisy, of which the poets 
have made so much, larkspur, which is a pretty 
cornfield weed, and the scarlet field- poppy which 
flowers all summer, and is so taking amid the 
ripening grain, have not immigrated to our shore. 
Like a certain sweet rusticity and charm of 
European rural life, they do not thrive readily 
under our skies. Our fleabane {Erigeron Cana- 
densis) has become a common roadside weed in 
England, and a few other of our native less 
known plants have gained a foothold in the Old 
World. 

" Poke- weed is a native American, and what a 
lusty, royal plant it is ! It never invades culti- 
vated fields, but hovers about the borders and 



Weeds in North America. 291 

looks oyer the fences like a painted Indian sachem. 
Thoreau coveted its strong purple stalks for a 
cane, and the robins eat its dark crimson-juiced 
berries. 

'' It is commonly believed that the mullein is 
indigenous to this country, for have we not heard 
that it is cultivated in European gardens, and 
christened the American velvet plant. Yet it too 
seems to have come over with the pilgrims, and 
is most abundant in the older parts of the country. 
It abounds throughout Europe and Asia, and had 
its economic uses with the ancients. The Greeks 
made lamp-wicks of its dried leaves, and the 
Eomans dipped its dried stalk in tallow for 
funeral torches. It affects dry uplands in this 
country, and as it takes two years to mature, it 
is not a troublesome weed in cultivated crops. 
The first year it sits low upon the ground in its 
coarse flannel and makes ready; if the plough 
comes along now its career is ended ; the second 
season it starts upward its tall stalk, which in 
late summer is thickly set with small yellow 
flowers, and in fall is charged with myriads of 
fine black seeds. ' As full as a dry mullein stalk 
of seeds ' is equivalent to saying, ' as numerous 
as the sands upon the seashore.' 

''Perhaps the most notable thing about the 
weeds that have come to us from the Old World 
when compared with our native species, is their 
persistence, not to say pugnacity. They fight 
for the soil; they plant colonies here and there 
and will not be rooted out. Our native weeds 

u 2 



292 Weeds in No7'th America. 

are for the most part shy and harntless, and re- 
treat before cultivation, but the European outlaws 
follow man like vermin ; they hang to his coat 
skirts, his sheep transport them in their wool, and 
his cow and horse in tail and mane. As I have 
before said, it is as with the rats and mice. The 
American rat is in the woods and is rarely ever 
seen by woodmen, and the native mouse barely 
hovers upon the outskirts of civilization ; while 
the Old World species defy our traps and our 
poison, and have usurped the land. So with the 
weeds. Take the thistles, for instance ; the 
common and abundant one everywhere, in fields 
and along highways, is the European species, 
while the native thistle is much more shy, and is 
not at all troublesome ; indeed, I am not certain 
that T have ever seen it. The Canada thistle, too, 
which came to us by way of Canada, what a pest, 
what a usurper, what a defier of the plough and 
harrow ! I know of but one effectual way to 
treat it; to put on a pair of buckskin gloves, 
and pull up every plant that shows itself; thiss 
will effect a radical cure in two summers. Of 
course the plough or the scythe, if not allowed 
to rest more than a month at a time, will finally 
conquer it. 

" Or take the common St. John's wort (Hyperi- 
cum jperforatum), how has it established itself in 
our fields and become a most pernicious weed, 
very difiicult to extirpate, while the native 
species are quite rare, and seldom or never 



Weeds in North Ame7^ica. 293 

invade cultivated fields, being mostly in wet and 
rocky places. Of Old World origin, too, is the 
curled leaf dock (Bumex Crispus) that is so 
annoying about one's garden and home meadows, 
its long tapering root clinging to the soil with 
such tenacity, that I have pulled upon it till I 
could see stars without budging it; it has more 
lives than a cat, making a shift to live when 
pulled up and laid on top of the ground in the 
burning summer sun. Our native docks are 
mostly found in swamps, or near them, and are 
harmless. 

" Purslane, commonly called ' pusley,' and 
which has given rise to the saying ' as mean as 
pusley ' — of course is not American. A good 
sample of our native purslane is the Claytonia, 
or spring beauty, a shy, delicate plant, that opens 
its rose-coloured flowers in the moist sunny places 
in the woods or along their borders, so early in 
the season. 

'' There are few more obnoxious weeds in culti- 
vated ground than sheep-sorrel, also an Old 
World plant, while our native wood-sorrel, with 
its white, delicately- veined flowers, or the variety 
with yellow-flov\rers, is quite harmless. The same 
is true of the mallow, the vetch, or tare and other 
plants. 

"Weeds have this virtue : they are not easily 
discouraged ; they never lose heart entirely ; they 
die game. If they cannot have the best they will 
take up with the poorest : if fortune is unkind to 



294 Weeds in North America. 

them to-daj, thej liope for better luck to-morrow ; 
if tliey cannot lord it over a corn-liill, they will 
sit humbly at its foot and accept what comes ; 
in all cases they make the most of their oppor- 
tunities." 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 

The Round Trip. By way of Panama through California, Oregon, 
Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Colorado, with Notes on Railroads, Commerce, 
Agriculture, Mining, Scenery and People. By John Codman. Oc- 
tavo, cloth. . . . . . . . . . . . I 50 

"This is really an unusually entertaining book of travel, for the author has taken 
for his ' points of observation ' objects and things not often written up and enlarged 
upon them in an unrestrained, familiar fashion, so that the reader feels as if he were 
feing entertained by letters written for his special benefit by a personal friend." — 
Worcester Daily Spy. 

" We have reason to congratulate ourselves, upon the fact that Capt. John Codman 
has seen fit to weave into literary form some of the best results of his man}?^ protracted 
journeys through the great West, giving them to us in a substantial volume of three 
hundred and thirty-one pages. The author has made it his special province to go 
out of the beaten track of those amusement seekers who call themselves tourists, and 
to see and write rather of the things which tourists do not see at all, or seeing do not 
understand, than of the conventional 'sights' of the Western States. As he tells us 
in his preface, ' little is said of large cities, and absolutely nothing of the Yosemite.' 
For this every reader will be thankful, and the omission can scarcely fail of itself to 
commend the author's judgment and enhance the reader's good opinion of the book." 
— Evening Post. 

" The writer is a keen observer and possesses the pleasing faculty of presenting his 
observations in the most vivid manner. The book is one that will undoubtedly attain 
a wide sale, abounding in matter of the most instructive nature. We heartily recom- 
mend its perusaL" — Boston Beacon. 

" A journey of great interest is described in a manner most instructive and entertain- 
ing. Captain Codman is a close observer of men and things and a capital narrator. 
He has a keen sense of humor, a quick eye for picturesque objects and incidents, great 
skill in catching and preserving local characteristics, and a sensible and racy style." — 
Literary World. 

" Mr. Codman has written a remarkably sensible guide-book. It is full of useful 

information told in a matter-of-fact way. Moral courage is manifested in its opinions, 

and common-sense in its collection of facts." — Chicago T lines. 

'' Books of travel are always interesting when they give us something new, but 

>pecially when written in a pieasant style. * * * It is well written, and abounds 

'. pleasant and unpleusant incidents and experiences, which are told in a racy and 

f. scinating style." — Herald fir' Presbyter^ Cincinnati. 

"A narrative of exceeding interest throughout, and replete with instruction. The 
ituor is well qualified for his task, and this book has not a dull page in it. It is full of 
iluable information, and is written in a graphic and highly pleasing style."- Kansas 
■ty Times. 

" It is rare to find a volum*5 of travel in this country so rich and rare. The author, 
with his trained pen and observant eye, has grouped together a charming picture f^: 
travel." — Pittsburgh Telegraph. 



RECENT BOOKS OF TRAVEL 

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. By Isabella 
Bird, author of " Six Months in the Sandwich Islands," 
" A Ride of 700 Miles Through Japan." Second edition, 
octavo, illustrated, $1 75. 

" Of the bold dragoons who have recently figured in military life, bewitch- 
ing the world with feats of noble horsemanship, the fair Amazon who ides 
like a Centaur over the roughest passes of the Rocky Mountains will cer- 
tainly bear away the palm. — New York Tribtme. 

The Great Fur Land ; or Sketches of Life in the 
Hudson's Bay Territory. By H. M. Robinson. Second 
edition, octavo, illustrated, $1 75. 

" Mr. Robinson's narrative exhibits a freshness and glow of delineation 
founded on a certain ncvehy of adventure which commands the attention of 
the reader, and makes his story as attractive as a romance." — New York 
Tribune. • 

The Round Trip, by way of Panama, through California, 
Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado, with notes on 
Railroads, Commerce, Agriculture, Mining, Scenery, and 
People. By John Codman. i2mo, cloth, ^i 50. 

" No work on California has given a larger amount of useful information 
than Captain Codman's, and none has equaled his in raciness and general 
readableness. * * * " — Literary World. 

Roman Days. By Viktor Rydberg, authcr of 'The 
Last Athenian.' Translated from the Swedish by A. C. Clark, 
with a Biographical Sketch of the Author, by Dr. H. A. W. 
Lindehn. 8vo, cloth extra, with twelve plates, $2 00. 

" The whole work bears the mark of individual and original thought and 
research, and is fresh and rich accordingly, and full of new and interesting 
information. " — Chicago Ti ibzme. 

Studies of Paris. By Edmondo de Amicis, author of 
"Constantinople," "Morocco," " Holland," etc. 
i6mo, cloth, %\ 25. 

*• A marvel of intense, rapid, graphic and poetic description, by one of 
the most brilliant of modern Italian authors. The chapters on Hugo md 
"^ola show the same power of description and analysis in dealing with mind 
jiid character." — Christian Register 

G- P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 



Cool and Refreshing Reading for the Summer Season. 

THE GREAT FUR LAND ; or Sketches of Life 
in the Hudson's Bay Territory. By H. M. Robinson, 
formerly U. S. Assistant Consul in Manitoba. With numerous 
Illustrations by Charles Gasche. 8vo, cloth extra, $1.75. ' 

A SELECTION FROM THE CONTENTS : 

A Journey by Dog-Sledge ; Canoe Life ; The Half- 
Breed Voyageur ; The Hudson's Bay Company ; Life in 
a Company's Fort ; A Voyage with the Voyageurs ; The 
Great Fall Hunts ; The Fraternity of Medicine ; The 
Blackfeet Indians at Home ; Winter Travel ; The Fur 
Hunter ; A Winter Camp ; The Frost King ; A Half- 
Breed Bull ; A Wood Indian "Trade." 

" Mr. Robinson has admirably succeeded in hitting off the peculiar 
features of forest life, and in following his graphic sketches the reader is 
almost made to feel the scent of the odorous woods, and the breath of 
ref.reshing air from the breezy mountain-tops. * * * fhe narrative 
'sxhibits a freshness and glow of delineation, founded on a certain novelty 
•if adventure, which commands the attention of the reader, and makes hie 
story as attractive as romance." — N. V. Tribune. 

" The Messrs Putnam have published a record of travel and experience 
in the far North, which, both on the score of novelty of theme and liveli- 
ness of treatment may be called one of the most attractive volumes of the 
season. * * * Altogether, the author has given us a book, which, 
considering the nature of the information afforded, and the succinctness and 
spirit of the narrative, is captivating and unique." — N. V. Sun. 

" Mr. Robinson's book, it will readily be seen from this, is both an 
entertaining and instructive one." — N. V. Herald. 

" Jowmeys by dog-sledge, canoe life, the appearance, manners and 
peculiarities of the half-breed population, the organization of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, the great buffalo hunt, trading with the Indians, camn life 
and some other characteristic phases of Northwestern experience are de- 
scribed in a graphic and detailed style, which renders the book very epter- 
taining reading." — Bostoft Traveller. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. F. FUTNAM'S SONS. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF " A LADY'S LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS." 

UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN. An account of Travels on 

Horseback in the Interior. By Isabella L. Bird. 2 vols. 8vo. 

Illustrations and maps. . . . . . . . $5 GO 

" Of Miss Bird's fascinating and instructive volumes it is impossible to speak 
in terms of too tiigh praise. Tiiey fully maintain the well-earned reputation of the 
author of ' Six Months in the Sandwich Islands' and ' A Lady's Life in the Rocky 
Mountains' as a traveller of the first order, and a graphic and picturesque writer. 
The title she has chosen for her new book is no misnomer. Few foreigners, even of 
the stronger sex, would have had the courage and perseverance to face and surmount 
the obstacles which a frail woman in ill health, accompanied only by a single native 
servant, encountered in her cross-country wanderings. But Miss Bird is a born travel- 
ler, fearless, enthusiastic, patient, instructed, knowing as well what as how to describe. 
No peril daunts her, no prospect of fatigue or discomfort disheartens or repels her."— 
Quarterly Review^ October, 1880. 

" Miss Bird is one of the most remarkable travellers of our day. Penetrating 
into regions wholly unknown by the outside world, she has accomplished, by the 
force of an indomitable will, aided by great tact and shrewdness, a task to which few 
men would have been found equal; and she has brought away from the scene of her 
researches not only a lively tale of adventure, but a great store of fresh and interest- 
ing information about the character and habits of a people now undergoing one of the 
strangest transformations the world has ever seen. We doubt whether the inner life 
of Japan has ever been better described than in the pregnant pages of this pertinacious 
Englishwoman." — N. V. Daily Tribune. 

" Beyond question, the most valuable and the most interesting of recent books 
concerning Japanese travel. * * * one of the most profitable of recent travel 
records."— A''. Y. Evening Post, 

" One of the most readable books of travel of the day." — N. Y. Dally Times. 

" Miss Bird has given us what to-day must be regarded as the best work on 
Japan."— tV. Y. Herald. 

" But it is in descriptions of men and manners that she excels, and in these she 
is so excellent that in no other book in English is there anything like so vivid a picture 
as she gives of the Japanese people." — N. Y. World. 

" Her graphic power, her literary skill, and surprising freshness of material, 
especially in the second volume, make this book one of the very best, and as a work 
of travels the best, in the library of books relating to Japan."— Rev. Wm. E. Griffis, 
in the N. Y. Independent. 

" Her narrative is one of intense interest * * * forms a thoroughly valuable 
and desirable addition'to any Y\\iX2iXy .''' —Congregationalist. 

'' Miss Bird's book is fascinating throughout." — The American., Philadelphia. 

" She draws out the story of the homely, everyday life in Japan as it has never 
before been presented." — The Reptiblican^ Springfield, Mass. 

" Japan is irvAj a wonderful country * * * who follows Miss Bird in its 
unbeaten tracks will be not only interested, but delighted and almost enchanted. 
* * * shehas told us more about the country, its history, its literature, its business, 
and the habits, thoughts, and customs of the people, than we might learn from forty 
ordinary books on Japan * * * a remarkably good book * * * it is brimful 
of information, much of which has never ccme under our eye before." — Boston Post. 

" We do not hesitate to say that oi all the books of Japanese travels which we 
have seen — and we have seen a score or two — this is, without question, the best." 
— Louisville Cozirier-Journal. 

" Among the works of travellers, relating to this country, we are inclined to 
rank ' Unbeaten Tracks in Japan ' as perhaps the best. * * * In all respects it is 
a sensible, useful work."- Troy Daily Times. 

"• A minute account of the interior of Japan. * * * on nearly every page 
something new or novel is set forth. * * * This record of life in the interior of 
Japan is the freshest and most satisfactory of any which has yet been given to the 
public." — San Francisco Evenifig Bulletin. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 



A NEW VOLUME BY "JOHN LATOUCHE." 

PORTUGAL, OLD AND NEW. By Oswald Crawfurd, British 
Consul at Oporto. Octavo, with maps and illustrations, cloth 
extra, . . . . . . , . . • $3 50 

Mr. Crawfurd, who is better known in literature under his ^tom de plutne of 
John Latouche, has resided for many years in Portugal and has had exceptional op- 
oortunities for becoming thoroughly acquainted with the country and its people. 

"The whole book, indeed, is excellent, giving the reader not information 
only, but appreciation of Portugal, its climate, its people and its ways. It is not a 
book of travel, but a book of residences, if we may say so." — Neiv York Evening Post. 

" Mr. Crawfurd's admirable book is most opportune, and his long residence in 
the countrv, his intimate and critical knowledge of the language, history, poetry, and 
the inner life of the people, render him an authority as safe to follow as he is pleas- 
ant. * * * The book is excellent in every way." — AthencEJun. 

" A more agreeable account of Portugal and the Portuguese could scarcely 
have been written, and it will surprise us if the book does not live as one of the best 
descriptions we possess of a foreign nation." — St. James Gazette. 

A FORBIDDEN LAND ; OR, VOYAGES TO THE COREA. 

With full description of the manners, customs, history, etc., of a com- 
munity of some 16,000,000 people hitherto almost entirely unknown. 
By Ernst Oppert. Octavo, with maps and illustrations, $3 00 

" The author combines a story of his personal adventures, with a most intel- 
ligible description of the country, its inhabitants, their customs, and of everything 
which would help his readers to form a correct idea of what he himself saw and 
learned." — The Ckurchma^i. 

" Sure to be eagerly and widely read =>= * * contains almost the only au- 
thentic description of Corea and its people with which the public are familiar." — San 
Francisco Bulletin. 

" Full of data of the highest value on the geography and history of Corea, its 
commercial value and products. "^iV^w York Times. 

'' Mr. Oppert has made a book of rare interest." — Ne^v York Evening Post. 

" His personal narrative is one of great mterest * * * he is rewarded for 
his enterprise in being able to communicate so much novel and valuable information 
in regard to a country which has so long remained beyond the scope of geographical 
research." — New York Tribune. 

ROMAN DAYS. By Viktor Rydberg. Translated by Alfred 
Corning Clark, with Memoir of the author by H. A. W. Lindehn. 
Octavo, cloth. Illustrated . . . . . . . $2 00 

The volume embodies the results of careful historical studies, and gives some 
legendary matters not heretofore brought forward. The art criticisms are the work 
of a poet and scholar ; the brief historical and topographical sketches, those of a clears 
headed pliilosopher and eager traveller, a quick observer, a man of general and thor- 
ough culture. The book is a picturesque mosaic of the many brilliant, sober, gay, 
comic, dramatic, tragic, poetic, vulgar elements tliat make up the past history of that 
wonderful city and the phj-siognomy it bears to-day. 

" We welcome this work from the hardy North for its broad scholarship, its 
freshness and ripeness. The articles betray an artistic discrimination rare in one not 
a sculptor by profession and experienced and enthusiastic in that art. Rydberg pos- 
sesses the pure plastic spirit."— A^. Y. Herald. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 



A NEW BOOK BY THE AUTHOR OF ' CONSTANTINOPLE. 

HOLLAND AND ITS PEOPLE. By Edmundo de Amicis, author 
of " Constantinople," " Studies of Paris," " Morocco," " Spain," etc. 
Octavo. With i8 full-page plates $2 oo 

In this volume of which editions are appearing at once ia Florence, Paris, 
London and New York, the brilliant author of "■ Paris" and "■ Constantinople" has 
turned his steps to a land abounding in picturesque effects and whose history is full of 
dramatic interest, and his vivid descriptions of the Hollanders and their homes show 
that his pen has lost none of its eloquence or delicacj^ of touch. His analysis of the 
traits and characteristics of this sturdy race, which has played so important a part in^ 
the history of Europe, is most interesting and valuable. 

" In descriptive passages, Signor Amicis is at home. A wealth of imagery 
flows from his pen and lightens the pages into prose poems. He has a quiet humor of 
the Latin type, a disposition to be amused ; but he is quick to sympathize with the 
emotions of his Dutch friends, and if he smiles at their stolidity, admires the rugged 
qualities and native genius which have produced a William of Orange, a John DeWitt, 
a Barneveld, and a Remhra.ndt.'"— Boston Traveller. 

" Edmundo de Amicis has transformed the land of dykes into a land of beauty? 
of wonder, and of enchantment. He has written, in a word, a book in every sense 
charming." — Chicago Times. 

'■'■ It is only simple justice to say that a more delightful volume of travel* 
hardly may be found." — Philadelphia Times. 

" His sparkling, graphic book is a thoroughly charming one, to which we giv? 
the most unaffected praise." — Louisville Courier-Journal. 

BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 8vo, cloth, %i s^ 

De Amicis is one of the strongest and most brilliant of the present generation 
of Italian writers, and this latest work from his pen, as well from the picturesqueness 
of its descriptions as for its skilful analysis of the traits and characteristics of th» med- 
ley of races represented in the Turkish capital, possesses an exceptional interest and 
value. 

" The most picturesque and entertaining volume contained in the recent litera- 
ture on the Eastern question." — Boston Journal. 

" A remarkable work * * *■ the author is a poet, an artist, a wonder- 
worker in words * * * his descriptions are given with rare skill."— A''. Y. Evening 
Post. 

STUDIES OF PARIS. By Edmundo de Amicis, author of "Con- 
stantinople," " Morocco," "Holland," etc. i2mo, cloth extra, $I 25 

A series of wonderfully vivid and dramatic pictures of the great world's me- 
tropolis, by a writer whose previous books have gained a reputation for exceptional 
clearness of perception and facility- in description. There is hardly a writer who can 
rival him in his power of reproducing for his readers the very atmosphere of the place 
he describes. These "Studies" include original and characteristic papers on the two 
authors whom he considers especially representative of the Paris of to-day — Hugo and 
Zola. 

'' Poet in prose, painter in phrases, subtle musician in the harmonies of lan- 
guage, de Amicis has comprehended the manifold amazement, the potent charm of 
Paris as no writer before him has done." — Portland Press. 

'■'■ A marvel of intense, rapid, graphic and poetic description, by one of the most 
brilliant of modern Italian writers. The chapters on Hugo and Zola show the same 
power of description and analysis in dealing with mind and character." — Christian 
Register. 



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